Power Rangers Wild Cats
by TwistedAngelPurple
Summary: In the future a new team of Rangers is chosen to protect Reefside...the only problem...they are a group of troubled teens.
1. Wild Beginning

*AN- This story takes place after another series I wrote called "Power Rangers Genesis". I haven't posted that story because it's really not required reading before reading this story. Hope you like this series. Look for updates soon.

PRWC 1- "Wild Beginning"

"_Oh, my baby, when you're older  
Maybe then you'll understand  
You have angels that stands around you shoulders  
'Cause at times in life you need a loving hand" _

_~ "Come To Jesus" Mindy Smith_

Six months. Well, six months and 23 days if you want to be exact. That's how long Starlight Academy had been open, how long I had been attending Reefside University, and how long it had been since I had seen my boyfriend, Jay.

I can't say life had been that bad. I actually enjoyed working with the students at Starlight. My group was making more progress everyday. Of course there had been changes I had to make in myself. For one this was the first time I hadn't had Melody or my other friends around. That was the hardest part. I also saw all these kids with issues I never dreamed of. Abuse…drug use…the list goes on. It was very taxing at first but I got into the swing of things. Living at the Academy wasn't so bad either…except for Julie, my annoying room mate (more about her later). But the real highlight of my life at Starlight was my group. My Wildcats (every group at Starlight had a name. That was ours.)

First was April Snyder. She was 16 and a real hard case. April never knew her birth father. When her mother remarried it was to a low life scumbag who did drugs and eventually raped April. She turned to drugs herself as her way of coping. Eventually she ran away. When she was caught by authorities for streetwalking her mom was forced to do something. She took their lawyer's advice and sent her here, it was the only way to keep her out of juvenile hall (juvie). She's been here for all 6 months of the school's existence and she's made amazing progress.

Next we have Jesse Foster. He's 16 also and unlike the others he wasn't abused nor was he self destructive. Jesse actually had a very loving family at one time. That was before his parents were killed in an auto accident. After that he was sent to live with his aunt. She didn't want him but she did want the money that came with him (his parents had a great life insurance policy). She spent 2 years neglecting him before she heard about Starlight as a cheep alternative to having him in her way. Most of Jesse's issues deal with abandonment and self esteem. Jesse has only been here 3 months and slowly, but steadily, he's making progress.

Then there's Chris Hayes. He's only 15 but his troubles run deep. His father was very abusive to his mother. He grew up seeing that and ended up a violent person himself. He also saw his father's constant drinking and when he got into high school he starting drinking, experimenting with drugs, and even went as far as to get involved with gangs. Chris has been here for 5 months and…well he's still a work in progress. I haven't given up hope though.

Finally, we have Tiffany Jennings. She's 14 and on the surface you would think this girl had it all. Her parents were both very important CEOs of major corporations. Tiffany could have anything and everything she wanted, except time with them. They would always be busy with work functions and they would give Tiffany money to keep her satisfied. Eventually she started to think her parents didn't love her. She believed it was because she wasn't perfect enough. She started to purge her food in order to fit the perfect model description. When that didn't get their attention she fell into deep despair and didn't know how to deal. Her answer was to turn to cutting to release her feelings. When she passed out from malnutrition the doctor recommended sending her to us. She's only been here for 2 months and it's hard to measure her progress because she still hasn't let go of her perky front and let us in on her deeper problems too many times. I'm confident that will come with time though.

Remember I mentioned my roommate Julia? Yeah, her. She has a troubled past herself. I guess she was abused by her stepfather and she ended up doing drugs and running away after she tried to off him with a piece of sports equipment. She got a scholarship to a school that was like this one and it turned her life around. Working here is her way of giving that gift to someone else. I respect her for what she's doing. I just find her to be very annoying.

I'd have to say my best friend since I moved here would have to be Josh McKnight. He's the son of two of my Mom's former team mates. Josh also attends Reefside U and he helps out at Starlight quite often. He's a really cool guy and is a total blast to hang with.

And that covers mostly everyone around here…except my family of course. My parents seem very happy with their work here. They are head masters of Starlight. They are also in charge of the Wildcats most of the time since I'm at school most of the day Monday-Friday. My baby sister is 3 now, she's talking somewhat. She's walking (and as my mom told me, she did learn to walk without me pushing her) and she brings so much joy into lots of the student's lives. She's a spunky kid. You can tell she belongs in this family.

Today happened to be a Saturday and that meant no classes. It also meant it was hiking day and I got to spend more time with my kids.

"How much further?" Tiffany whined.

"Don't start Tiff. We haven't even gone a mile yet." April said.

"You can't expect any less from Princess." Chris said.

"I'm not a Princess." Tiffany said getting defensive.

"Whatever you say…Princess." Chris said laughing.

"Don't start you guys. Tiff, you don't need to complain. It will only make the hike seem longer." I said.

"How long is it today?" Tiffany asked.

"You know the drill. 3 miles each way for a total of 6 miles. Today is no different." I said.

"Ugh." Tiffany whined.

"Don't start Tiff." I said as we continued our hike.

"We're going to have to listen to her all day!" April said covering her ears.

"Probably." I said as I heard a voice come over my two way radio.

"Harley, come in…" Mom said.

"Mom? I'm here. Go ahead." I said into the radio.

"How far out are you?" she asked.

"About a mile or so." I said.

"I figured about that. Turn around and get back. We have a new student coming in and I am placing him in your group. You need to help us with introduction and admission." Mom said.

"Ok, it'll take me about an hour." I said.

"I know. That's fine. That's about when he'll be here." Mom said.

"Ok, got it. Harley out." I said putting the radio away. "Well Tiff, looks like your prayers were answered. We're turning back." I said.

"Why? I couldn't understand what was being said on the radio." Tiffany asked.

"We're getting a new student in our group and I have to help check him in." I said.

"What? A new kid? Ugh, just great." April said.

"April, don't be that way. I want you to welcome the new kid. Remember, you were new once." I said.

"Yeah, whatever." April said.

"Let's head back." I said getting everyone to turn around.

An hour later we got back to the Academy.

"Ok guys, you all can have some free time. Stay in the lodge though so I can find you when I need to." I instructed.

"Fine by me." Tiffany said walking into the lodge. Once I saw they were all in I walked over to my parents' office.

"OK, I'm here." I said.

"Good, just in time. We just got a call. Your new student is 5 minutes away." Dad said.

"Ok. What's his name? I could use some background info." I said.

"Ok. His name is Derek Hall. He's 17 and he's here because of being busted for drugs. He was an athlete at school and had good grades until the past couple of year. Something happened in him and he changed almost overnight according to his coach and teachers. Our job is to find out what." Dad said.

I nodded. "Ok, got it." I said as there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Dad called.

A social worker walked in with this guy. He was tall and had blonde hair. He looked like your typical jock. Actually he sort of reminded me of my friend Alex, except Alex never was messed up.

"Welcome to Starlight Academy." Mom said standing up to greet the boy.

"We can take it from here. Thank you." Dad said as the social worker left.

"I'm Michelle Bradley and this is my husband Hunter Bradley. We're the head masters to the Academy. That is our daughter Harley Bradley and she will be your group leader." Mom said.

"How sweet. It's a family business." Derek said.

"We like to think it's pretty nice. Now we have to get you checked in. Harley, show Derek to his room and find one of the males to do the search." Mom said.

"I thought you guys did the search and seize." I said.

"I trust the dorm monitors to do it. I've had them do the last few and it's working out well. Hunter trained some of the staff to do it. I have to finish his paper work and Hunter is going to wait in the clinic so Derek can get his physical." Mom said.

"OK. Derek, this way." I said as I walked out with the new kid behind me. "I think you'll find it's not so bad here once you get used to it. I'm not sure if you've been informed of all the rules. We do follow a strict schedule here. We also don't allow drinking, drugs, or sex obviously. We also monitor any public displays of affection to make sure it is not upsetting to anyone. We assign chore duty and there is allotted time for them to be done. One Sunday a month everyone has to help deep clean the lodge and dorms. If you have any questions I'm your group leader. You can ask me or another group leader or monitor. Any questions?" I asked.

"No. I think I'm good." He said.

"Ok…" I said as I saw Josh. "Hey, Josh! Wanna do me a favor?"

"Har, what's up?" he asked.

"I need someone to do the search and seize on Derek here." I said.

"Ah, a new kid. Welcome to Starlight. I'm Josh McKnight." Josh said.

"Derek Hall. So what's your job around here?" Derek asked.

"Um, I don't have an official title. I just help out." Josh said.

"How noble of you." Derek said.

"Anyway, can you do the search?" I asked Josh again.

"Of course." Josh said as he started walking with us. "Did you hear Coach Daniels quit?"

"What? Why?" I asked. Coach Daniels had been our sports coordinator.

"Because Mark Williams hit him in the head with a baseball for making him run laps. Coach said he couldn't take anymore of…well let's just say he was angry." Josh said. I guess the Coach said something insulting about the students and Josh didn't want Derek hearing it.

"Wow. We need a new coach." I said.

"Yeah, I'll say." Josh said.

"I wonder why my parents didn't tell me about this." I said.

"New student stress." Josh said as we walked in the dorm.

"Ok, you'll sleep in this bunk. Josh is going to check your bags now and make sure you don't have any contraband on you." I said stepping back so Josh could work.

"You think I'm stupid enough to bring anything to a place like this?" Derek asked.

"It's procedure." Josh said as he started the search.

"Yeah…right." Derek said as he stood back and let himself get searched.

When Josh was done with the search (we found nothing to seize) I took Derek to the clinic.

"Ok, go on in. My dad is in there with the doctor. I'll be right here when you get done." I said.

"Yeah…fine." Derek said going in.

15 minutes later he came out with Dad.

"Ok, surprisingly his clothes are appropriate and fit dress code so that's not an issue…he's all yours Har. You can take him with the rest of your group now." Dad said.

"Great. Let's go Derek." I said leading him to the lodge. We got in and I found the others all sitting around playing cards.

"Good, glad to see you all making an effort to act as a group. Guys, this is our newest Wildcat, Derek Hall. Derek, this is Tiffany Jennings, Jesse Foster, Chris Hayes, and April Snyder." I said.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey Derek. Welcome to Starlight!" Tiffany said in her normal perky voice.

"Yeah, thanks." Derek said sitting down.

"Ok, well it looks like our hike isn't gonna happen today. I'm sure you're beyond disappointed. Instead we're going to do a group talk until lunch." I said

"Ugh…" April groaned.

"Hey, it's better than hiking." Tiffany said.

"Ok, first off, Jesse, you're going to be Derek's buddy for the first week. Show him around, make sure he gets adjusted." I said.

"Ok, not a problem." Jesse said softly.

"Now, let's start with the emotion circle. Derek, what we do here is everyone goes around and tells how they feel in one word then we go back and elaborate. You'll catch on fast. Tiff, since you're so keen on this you can start." I said.

"OK. I feel happy. Chris…"

"I feel…tired. April…"

"I feel annoyed. Jesse…"

"I feel nervous. Harley…"

"I feel excited. Derek…"

"I feel confused." Derek finished.

"Ok good job. Now Tiff, why do you feel happy?" I asked.

"I feel happy because we don't have to hike today. Chris…"

"I feel tired because we're never allowed to sleep in here. April…"

"I feel annoyed because I hate these emotion circles. Jesse…"

"I feel nervous about being Derek's buddy because I don't want to mess up. Harley…"

"I feel excited because we have a new Wildcat. Derek…"

"I feel confused because I'm still trying to figure out what the hell is going on here." Derek finished.

"Derek, we don't use language like that here." I said.

"Ok, heck then." Derek corrected with a hint of sarcasm.

"Thank you." I said.

"Har, your dad wants you." Josh said coming in.

"Oh, ok. Can you hang with them for a bit?" I asked.

"Sure, no problem." Josh said sitting down. I got up and ran into my parents' office.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Can you handle getting lunch out by yourself today?" Dad asked.

"Sure. Why?" I asked.

"Because Felicity is sick so your mom had to take her to the clinic and I have to come up with some lessons plans for Monday." Dad said.

"Lesson plans? For what?" I asked.

"I'm the new coach for now."

"You? Why?"

"Because your mother won't let me hire the one person who's already applied."

"Who's that?"

"Conner McKnight."

"Josh's dad?"

"Yeah."

"Well he's a great coach at RHS. If he wants to work here wouldn't that be great?" I asked.

"That's what I thought but your mom won't let me hire him." Dad said.

"I am not working side by side with Conner McKnight for the rest of my life. Not a chance. Hell will freeze over before I hire him." Mom said.

"Mich, you're acting like your 15. Conner is a good coach and he's willing to work here. We'd be lucky to have him." Dad said.

"No, no, no, and oh yeah, NO!" Mom said.

"Don't worry about lunch Dad. I got it covered. I hope you figure out the coach thing." I said as I walked out. When I got out I noticed the sky was darker. A storm must be heading in.

I got in to make lunch. I watched my Wildcats from a distance. I was truly excited to have Derek. I just hoped he'd fit in with this bunch…I hoped I could help.


	2. Tolerance

PRWC 2- "Tolerance"

"_She wants to go home  
But nobody's home  
That's where she lies  
Broken inside  
No place to go  
No place to go  
To dry her eyes  
Broken inside"_

_~ "Nobody's Home" Avril Lavigne_

"Bed check." I said walking into one of the girls' rooms. Everyone was in their beds. "Ok, lights out. Goodnight girls." I said.

"Night Harley." Tiffany said.

"Yeah, goodnight." April said.

"Night." The rest of the girls chorused as I turned out the light.

That was the last room so I went up to my room. My roommate, Julia, was already back from her checks. We each had two rooms to check on. I went and sat on my bed. I tried to ignore Julia. She wasn't my favorite person in the world.

"So, how goes the work with the newest Wildcat?" she asked me.

I sighed, "Derek? Um, well…it goes."

"He seems normal enough…typical jock guy." She said.

"It's a cover."

"Duh it's a cover. If it wasn't he wouldn't be here."

"Well excuse me for pointing out the obvious." I said sarcastically.

"You're excused."

"Just leave me alone." I said.

"What's wrong Airy?" Julia asked using my nickname. She started calling me "Airy" because she said I reminded her of Ariel, the princess in "The Little Mermaid".

"Nothing Ju Ju." I said using her nickname. I chose that name for her because she reminded me of that alien, Jar Jar Binks, in Star Wars.

"You're snappy tonight even for you." Julia replied.

"I just don't feel like answering 20 questions." I said as I braided my hair and lay down.

"I wasn't asking 20 questions. I was just trying to make conversation."

"Whatever."

"You know you have major issues."

"I do not!"

"You do too. See I think you still have trust issues stemming back to when you found out you had two dads."

"Oh god, I can't believe I'm hearing this. You're one to talk. You're the one who tried to take out your dad with a baseball bat."

"Yeah, and I ended up at New Starts to deal with that. You didn't get any professional help."

"You think you know everything about me don't you? What if I told you I did get professional help? Would that shock you? I bet so because you think you know it all."

"You had professional help? Yeah right. Just for dealing with your Dads?"

"For your information I tried to fuc…I tried to kill myself and I almost succeeded. I ended up in counseling after that. Guess you didn't know it all after all did you? I'm out of here." I said getting up and leaving the room leaving a very shocked Julia behind.

I walked to the lake that was on site and sat down and looked out at it. I was really missing Jay. I didn't even know if we were still together. We had barely talked in months. I missed Mel too. She was my best friend and I missed running to her house. I missed all my friends. We had finally gotten close again now we were all spread out at different colleges. I even missed Aaron. Now that was weird to admit.

I was snapped out of my thoughts by foot steps. I turned around and saw Josh.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I could ask the same of you." Josh said sitting next to me

"I needed to think."

"Me too."

"What did you need to think about?"

"Stuff."

"Yeah, me too." I said.

"Shouldn't you be in the dorm?"

"Nah. I'm a free agent. I'm not a student here. My parents wouldn't care."

"What does your mom have against my dad?"

"I don't know. I think they have this rivalry thing that goes way back."

"She needs to let it go."

"I know. My mom doesn't let go of anything easily though. That's just how she is."

"So why do you look so sad?" Josh asked.

"I'm just missing my friends."

"I'm your friend."

"You're all I have here."

"What about Julia?"

"Ju Ju? As if. She's anything but a friend. She's a major annoyance."

"She isn't that bad."

"You don't have to live with her."

"True."

"So what's new?" I asked for lack of anything better to say.

"My Uncle Eric is coming in next week with my cousin to check out Reefside U."

"Cool. Is Eric moving back to Reefside?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"That's cool." I said.

"So what's up with the Britney look?" Josh asked as he messed with my pigtail braids.

"Something different."

"It looks good on you." He said.

"Thanks." I said smiling.

"You're welcome." He said as he leaned towards me. I swear he was about to kiss me when we heard someone clear their throat. I turned around and saw Julia.

"So how come no one invited me to the party?" Julia asked as she sat on the other side of Josh.

"Because it's a private party. No alien life forms allowed." I said.

"Then what are you doing here?" Julia asked.

I was about to attack. Since I found out about the whole Sataurian thing I was a bit defensive about being called an alien. I then reminded myself that Julia knew nothing about that so I just calmed down. "Whatever." I mumbled.

"Oh great comeback Airy."

"Stuff it Ju Ju."

"Girls, girls…do I need to separate you?" Josh teased in his best teacher voice.

"No sir." We said mockingly said in unison. We all cracked up laughing.

"Hey, Ai…Harley, I'm sorry." Julia said.

I nodded. "It's ok."

"Did I miss something?" Josh asked.

"Nothing important." I said.

"You girls should get back to the dorm. Both dorm monitors shouldn't be gone." Josh said.

"He's right." I said.

"Ok, let's go back." Julia said.

"Goodnight Josh. Thanks for the talk." I said hugging him.

"Goodnight Har. Night Jules."

"Night Josh." Julia said as we headed for the dorm and Josh headed for his car to go to his home. He lived with his parents still.

"So how long have you had a thing for Josh?" Julia asked

"What?!" I cried.

"You know you do."

"I do not!"

"Oh you so do!"

"He's just a friend!" I cried.

"A friend with benefits?"

"Oh shut up Ju Ju!"

"Whatever you say Airy." Julia said as we got back into the room.

I sighed as I got in bed. I thought back to the moment before Julia got there. Josh was so going to kiss me. And I planned on letting him. Why? What did I feel for him? Was Julia right? Did I have a thing for Josh? Of course not! I still loved Jay. Right? 'Ugh! Forget it! I'm going to sleep!' I thought to myself as I pulled the blanket over my head and went to sleep.

The next morning I was up at 6:30 to get ready so that I could get the students up at 7 sharp then get myself to class on time.

"Ok! Everyone up!" I said at 7 to the girls in room B. Then I went to room D and did the same.

"God, this is unfair. Can't we sleep in just once?" April moaned.

"Sorry Ape. No can do. Up, now." I said leaving the girls to get ready. I ran downstairs and grabbed a bagel. I saw my dad in the kitchen.

"Morning Har." He said.

"Morning Dad. Gotta run."

"Have a good day. See you this afternoon." He said.

"Ok, see ya." I said kissing his cheek as I ran out the door. I got in my car and drove to Reefside U.

Hunter

After Harley left I got ready for the day. I would be coaching since Michelle still refused to let me hire Conner. I didn't see her problem with it. He was qualified and willing but she was being insistent that it was a bad idea. I had to find someway to convince her otherwise because I couldn't handle coaching, on top of everything else, for long.

I had decided that flag football would be something fun for the kids to do. I pulled out the flags and the footballs and the goal cones then went in to see to it that everyone was eating breakfast. I walked over to the Wildcats' table.

"Good morning Wildcats." I said.

"Morning Hunter." They chorused.

"Tiffany, what did you eat this morning?" I asked.

"A bowl of oatmeal and 2 slices of buttered toast." She replied.

"She did, we saw her." Jesse added.

"OK, very good. Derek, how are you adjusting to Starlight?" I asked.

"Eh, it's alright." He said.

"Well, good. I look forward to talking to you more…for now I have to go get ready for football." I said.

"Oh yeah, you're the new coach right?" April asked.

"No, only temp." I said.

"Yeah, until Michelle hires someone else." Jesse said.

"In other words it's like I said, you're the new coach." April laughed.

"Ha, ha. Watch it or I'll make you run laps." I said rolling my eyes as I went to get ready for the first class.

A couple of hours later I had the Wildcats and Cardinals.

"Ok guys, let's get going. Wildcats, blue flags, Cardinals, red flags. I want a clean game, let's go." I said blowing the whistle. The kids got their flags on and the game started. April threw the ball to Chris who started to run it until he got flagged.

"First down, Wildcats." I said as Chris got his flag and the game continued. Chris threw the ball to Tiffany who ran away at the sight of a ball coming at her. April jumped in and caught it.

"I knew Princess wouldn't try to catch it." April said as she ran down the field. She tried to pass it to Derek but it was intercepted by the Cardinals and they started the other way. Derek came running up from behind and tackled the guy and started beating the crap out of him. I ran over and pulled Derek off him.

"Derek, this is flag football, not tackle." I said.

"He cheated!" Derek screamed.

"No he didn't." April said.

"All of you go to the lodge and wait there until I get back. Derek, my office now." I said walking Derek to the office. Michelle wasn't in there, which meant 1) she was with Felicity and 2) we REALLY needed a new coach ASAP.

I sat Derek down. "Ok, I want to know what your deal is. Why did you tackle Kevin back there?" I asked.

"Felt like it." Derek said.

"'Felt like it' doesn't fly here Derek. We're a non-violent school, which is why we play flag ball. Now, I can't force you to tell me what's wrong but I would like it if you would." I said.

"I have no deal. My parents didn't want me and here I am. Good enough for you?"

"No, it's not. I don't buy that for a minute but I won't push you. I will tell you that you're on lunch duty today. Maybe washing dishes will get out some of that energy you had on the field." I said.

"Whatever." Derek said storming out of the office.

I sighed, this was going to be a hard one.

Harley

"I wish I knew what my mom's deal was. She won't even entertain the idea of hiring your dad." I said to Josh as we sat around in between classes.

"My mom is mad that he even applied. Your mom and my parents have some past issues or something obviously…I just wish I knew what." Josh said.

"Maybe we should sit them all in group and make them talk it out." I joked.

"Ha, ha. So how's the new Wild Cat?" Josh asked.

"Derek? Getting him settled is a long process. He hasn't let his front down yet." I said.

"He will…give him time."

"I know…I know." I said.

"So what's your next class?"

"History at 1:00." I said. Josh and I were taking our lunch break together.

"Cool. Hey you gonna come to Cyberspace tonight?" Josh asked.

"Um, well…if I can. With Dad pulling coaching duty they've needed me to do extra work." I said.

"Oh come on, Anna's band is playing…I'm sure they'll let you come." Josh said.

I sighed, "I'll try, I promise I'll try."

"Ok. Fair enough…you should head to class, you'll be late."

"Ugh, do I have to go?"

"Yes you do. What kind of example will that be for the Wild Cats if you skip class?"

"I won't tell them."

"Skipping class and lying? Good role modeling Har."

"OK, ok…I'm going…see ya." I said hugging Josh.

"See ya." He said. I turned and headed to class.

Hunter

"Michelle, this can't keep up. Come on, Conner is an excellent coach with years of experience. We're lucky someone like him applied." I said.

"No. I said no and I meant it."

"Why? Give me one good reason, just one, and I'll drop it."

"Because I said so! I don't like Conner, I don't want Conner around, and I don't want to deal with him on a daily basis again."

"Those are childish reasons. Here's the deal Mich, I own half this school and so I get some say in what goes on here. If we don't get a new coach in 24 hours I'm hiring Conner with or without your consent."

"You wouldn't…" she said

"Oh yes I would." I said.

"Hunter! No!"

"Yes. We need a coach and Conner is good. Like I said, you have 24 hours to find someone else. End of discussion." I said.

"Mommy…" Felicity said toddling in.

"Hey Liss." Michelle said picking her up.

"Hungry." Felicity said.

"Can you take her for lunch? I have paperwork to do." Michelle said.

"Sorry, can't. I have a class to coach. If there was someone else to do it I'd be happy to." I said leaving the office. I couldn't believe Michelle was being so childish about this. I mean I didn't like Conner exactly but the fact was he'd be a great addition to the school. I made it to the field.

"Hey Wildcats." I said.

"Hey Hunter." Tiffany said brightly.

"Did you eat lunch?" I asked.

"Yes sir." She said.

"Witnesses?" I asked.

"I saw her." Jesse said.

"Yeah, she didn't even go barf afterwards." April said.

I sighed at April's comment. "Good to hear. You're improving everyday Tiff."

"Unlike some of us." April said looking at Chris.

"Don't start with me." Chris said.

"Oh, you got something to say to me homeboy? You think you're so badass? I bet I'd take you easy if we were on the streets." April said.

"A chick? Take me out? Sorry chicka, ain't how that works." Chris said.

"Enough you two. Where are the Windchasers? We need to start." I said.

"I don't think they'll be coming." April said smirking.

"What did you do?" I asked.

"Me? Nothing at all." April replied.

"It's that tone that worries me. Stay put, all of you. I'll be back." I said taking off to find the Windchasers. When I found them they were cleaning their dorms. Someone had flooded them, and I has a pretty good idea who. I told them to go ahead and skip class so they could clean it up then I went back to the Wildcats.

"Ok, someone used the garden hose to flood the Windchasers' dorms, I want to know who and I want to know now." I said.

"Wasn't me." Chris said.

"I didn't think so, but I have a pretty good idea who it was…April?"

"Yes. It was me, ok?" April replied.

"Not ok. April, you're on room restriction for 2 days." I said.

"Like I care!" April cried as she ran for her dorm.

April

I ran to my room and sat on my bed. I hated this school so much. I hated everything about it. I hated the perfect Bradley family…

Ok, not totally true…I was jealous of the Bradleys and I…ok, maybe I kinda liked it here…it was better than the streets anyway, and going home wasn't an option. So why did I flood the Windchasers' room? I guess I wanted to get a rise out of Hunter. Everyone is always so peaceful. It's enough to drive a girl mad.

I looked around the room. Most of the girls had pictures of their families by their beds. Tiffany had a photo of her and her parents. I didn't. I didn't even have a father. Hell, I didn't even know who my father was. For that matter I may as well not have a mother…she doesn't even deserve that title…she's such a mess…more than I ever could be. I've never had a 'home' before. Even when Tiffany was going through her worst times she could go home. I couldn't. When I wanted to go home I had no where to go. Sure I had a house…more of a shack really…but it wasn't home. It was the place he abused me…I couldn't even sleep because I knew at any moment I might here the creaking of the door, warning me that he was coming. I guess Starlight really was the closest thing I ever had to a home…

Anyway, after sitting on my bed for awhile Michelle walked in.

"Hey April…what's the matter? Hunter told me you pulled a little prank on the Windchasers." She said.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Felt like it. Is that so hard to get?" I replied. Seriously, was that a hard concept to grasp?

"You know 'felt like it' doesn't fly here. Come on…why did you do it?"

I sighed, I broke so easily these days. I'd have to work on keeping my guard up, "I wanted a rise out of someone. Happy?"

"Why did you want a rise out of someone?"

"Ugh god! What is this? 20 question? It's the quiet…the peace…it's getting to me! You guys are always so calm, even when we lose it. I wanted to get a rise out of someone!"

"Is peace such a bad thing?"

"It's a foreign thing"

"Maybe you should get used to it."

"Why? So it can be taken the second I leave here? Thanks, but no thanks."

"It doesn't have to be that way."

"As long as you can't pick your mother, it does."

"April, I know you're angry but you're getting closer and closer to being an adult and then you can live your life however you choose."

"Sure…just like that."

"I can see I'm not getting anywhere right now. I'll be back later, for now you can work on cleaning up this dorm." Michelle said walking out.


	3. The Birth of a Wild Force

PRWC 3- "The Birth of a Wild Force"

_"I am small  
And the world is big  
But I'm not afraid of anything"_

_~ "How Does It Feel?" Avril Lavgine_

After I got out of class I headed back to the Academy to see if I could go see Anna's band. I got there and went in my parents' office.

"I have a favor." I said.

"Ok, what?" Dad asked.

"I want to go to Cyberspace tonight and see Anna McKnight's band." I said.

"I don't have a problem with it." Dad said.

"Problem with what?" Mom asked coming in.

"Har wants to go to Cyberspace and see Anna McKnight's band tonight. You can cover her dorm checks for one night right?" Dad asked.

"Um…I guess so." Mom said.

"Mom, what's the matter? Every time you hear the name 'McKnight' you turn pale." I said.

"That's a very good question, what's the matter? Is there something that happened between you and Conner we don't know about?" Dad asked.

"No, of course not. I'm going to check on Liss…excuse me." Mom said taking off.

"I don't believe her." I said.

"I don't either. There's something she isn't telling us and I'd like to know what." Dad said.

"Me too…anyway I should get going. See you later." I said kissing my dad's cheek and taking off.

I got to Cyberspace and saw Josh sitting at a table.

"Hey Har!" he called.

"Josh, hey."

"I see the wardens let you out." He joked.

"Yeah, I got a night pass." I laughed.

"Did you hear that Hayley is handing over Cyberspace to her daughter?"

"No I didn't."

"I guess her daughter just left a messy marriage or something so she's moving back to Reefside and Hayley said she could manage Cyberspace."

"But Hayley will still own it?"

"I think so."

"Hey guys." Ethan said walking up.

"Hi Ethan." I said.

"I'd like you guys to meet my daughter, Savannah James, Savannah this is Harley Bradley and Josh McKnight." Ethan said.

"Nice to meet you Savannah." I said.

"Yeah, likewise." She said. She seemed to be looking me over, I kinda felt like I was under scrutiny.

"So Savannah, how old are you?" I asked.

"27, you?"

"18"

"Harley!" Anna cried running over and hugging me.

"Anners!" I said hugging her.

"I'm so glad you could make it." She said.

"Me too. Oh, Anna, this is Ethan's daughter Savannah, Savannah this is Josh's sister, Anna." I said.

"Hi Anna." Savannah said.

"Hey. So you're Ethan's daughter? Don't really look much like him." Anna said.

"I'm adopted." Savannah said.

"Oh…do you know who your birth parents are?" Anna asked.

"I know who my birth mother is…she's someone I'd rather not know though." Savannah said.

"A real bitch eh?" I asked

"You could say that. She's just selfish and self centered and thinks she's the center of the world. I want nothing to do with her." Savannah said.

"Sounds bad." I said.

"Savannah, you have work to do." Ethan said pulling her away.

"She seems cool." I said.

"Yeah…anyway I have to go get ready for my set. I'll see you later." Anna said taking off.

A few minutes later Anna started her set. 30 seconds into the intro the power went off and I noticed that there was some green light coming over the city outside. Anna put her guitar down and ran to our table.

"Um, guys…this doesn't look normal." Anna said.

"This looks like Ranger business." Josh said.

"Agreed. Let's check it out Anna." I said as we ran outside. Sure enough there was a space ship that was radiating a green light.

"What the hell?" Anna asked.

"My thoughts exactly." I said, "Who are you?!" I called. A green light started to take form in front of us.

"I think we're about to find out." Anna said.

"I am Arissa and I have come to claim the Earth and extract revenge on the Queen and Princess of Saturn." The being said.

"Um, Har…wouldn't that me you and your mom?" Anna asked.

"Yeah." I said looking Arissa over. "Sorry babe, not gonna happen…Genesis Evolution!"

"Neo Change!"

Anna and I morphed and took a fighting stance.

"You are not worth my time now but I will be back and I will win." Arissa said beaming back up and ascending her ship into the sky.

"Ok great…I think we need to warn your mom." Anna said.

"I agree. Let's go tell Josh what's going on." I said as we went back in.

"Josh! We need to get to the Academy now." Anna said.

"Why? What's wrong?" Josh asked.

"We'll explain on the way." I said as we all piled in Josh's car and went to Starlight. We went to my parents' house, it was a house they had build right on the outside corner of the school grounds. I banged on the door.

"Harley? What's wrong?" Dad asked.

"We have to protect Mom! This alien being named Arissa said she's after the Queen and Princess of Saturn." I said.

"She did, I heard her." Anna confirmed.

"Ok, slow down…" Dad said as Mom came out with Felicity.

"What's going on?" Mom asked.

"Well…" I started as a green light shone down on the school.

"Oh no, it's her again…there's no time to explain." Anna said.

"Ready to morph?" I asked.

"Ready." Anna said.

"We have to protect the students. I'll go get Julie and we'll round everyone up in the lodge, give you more battle grounds." Josh said.

"Ok, thanks." I said, "Dad, get Mom and Liss to safety, they aren't safe here."

"I'm not going anywhere." Mom said as I saw an army of these robot looking things invade the school.

"Har, we need to take care of this." Anna said.

"With you." I said. "Genesis Evolution!"

"Neo Change!" Anna called as we went to fight.

Michelle

OK so some weird alien was after me…again…

"It's time Mich…" Hunter said.

"No Hunter…there isn't anyone capable of it." I said.

"We've got to find someone…Josh, Har, and Anna can do it." Hunter said.

"That still leaves three." I said.

"We'll discuss it on the way to the lodge. We need to get Liss over there." Hunter said picking our daughter up. I picked up a purple and crimson box and followed them.

April

As if my life couldn't get any more messed up, my school was under an alien attack.

"Are they going to hurt us?" Tiffany asked and Julia ushered us to the lodge.

"Yeah, they'll take us and anal probe us." I said sarcastically.

"April, enough…had anyone seen Harley?" Julia asked.

"No…" I said as I saw Derek, Chris, and Jesse with Josh.

"Let me at them!" Chris cried trying to get outside to fight the aliens.

"Chris, enough, there are people working on this, just stay inside with your group." Josh said uniting us in one corner of the lodge.

"Hey Chris, rough night?" I asked.

"Why do you want to fight the aliens?" Tiffany asked.

"Some excitement." Chris said.

"You don't know how to do it. I'll get us out there to fight the aliens." Derek said.

"Oh yeah, go for it big shot." Chris said.

"Watch and learn." Derek said getting up and walking over to Josh, who was the only one watching us now, Julia had gone over to the Windchasers, "Hey Josh, one of the Cardinals is escaping through the kitchen."

"Oh really? Who?" Josh asked.

"I don't know…the blonde girl…" Derek said.

"Amy? Oh no, she's a run risk…" Josh said running towards the kitchen.

"See, now let's go take out those aliens." Derek said.

"That was luck…" Chris said.

"You wanna go or not?" Derek asked.

"Let's do it." Chris said following Derek as they slipped out the door.

"Hey Jesse, aren't you Derek's buddy? You have to shadow him." I said.

"But he is breaking rules." Jesse said.

"So are you by not following him." I said.

"Well…ok." Jesse said going after them.

"See ya Princess." I said.

"Where are you going?" Tiffany asked.

"To fight aliens. I'm not letting the guys have all the fun." I said heading for the door.

"Wait, don't leave me here alone…" Tiffany said following me.

"You think you can hack it?" I asked.

"I…" Tiffany started as we got outside and saw the boys fighting the aliens.

"Woo hoo! About time we got some real fun here!" I cried as I joined in.

"Oh, no! Help!" Tiffany cried as she ran from the aliens, kicking one every now and again in the process.

We fought for a while but then the aliens started to win, we were getting out butts kicked.

"Ok, not what I had in mind." I said.

"Let me go!" Tiffany screamed.

"Hands off the Princess." Chris said trying to get free himself.

Michelle

As Hunter and I got closer to the lodge we saw the Wildcats fighting the aliens.

"Oh no…" I said.

"This is bad." Hunter said.

I looked at my box. "Hunter, we have to…"

"Them? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." I said opening the box. "Wildcats!!! Catch!" I cried throwing each of them a Morpher.

"What is this?!" April asked.

"Put it on your wrist and call out 'Wild Cat Transform!'" I called.

"Why?" Tiffany asked.

"Don't ask question Princess, just do it!" Chris said.

"Wild Cat Transform!" they called as they morphed into a new team of Rangers.

"No way…" April said.

"Power Rangers?" Tiffany asked.

"Pink…how perfect for you." April, the new Yellow Ranger said.

"Um, now might be a time to fight…" Jesse, the new Blue Ranger said.

Hunter took Felicity to the lodge while the new Rangers fought off the attack. I helped out as well.

Eventually the aliens gave up and I was faced with five very confused Rangers.

"OK, I guess you want an explanation…go to my house. Let me round up Harley and Hunter and I'll meet you there." I said.

I got Josh to watch Felicity then Hunter, Harley, Anna, and I went to my house.

"Mom, what's going on, why are they Rangers?" Harley asked.

"Good question." April said.

"Ok, ok…Harley, when we moved here Hayley told us of a technology she developed that would power a team of Rangers…she entrusted Hunter and I with guarding it until it was needed. When I saw these five fighting I knew they were meant to have the power. Wildcats, you have been chosen to become Power Rangers, it's a great responsibility not to be taken lightly, if you aren't up for it say so now because the fate of the world is on the line." I said.

"I'm in." April said.

"Yeah, why not." Derek said.

"Count me in." Chris said.

"Of course. I will be glad to help." Jesse said.

"Not a chance, no way." Tiffany said.

"Oh come on…this will be good for you Princess. She's in." April said.

"April, she must decide for herself." Hunter said.

Tiffany sigh, "OK, I'm in."

"Ok then, April, you will be the Yellow Ranger and control the Cheetah Zord and Cheetah Daggers. Chris, you will be the Black Ranger and control the Jaguar Zord, a crossbow will be your weapon. Tiffany…" I started.

"Wait, Princess can't get a weapon, she might use it on herself." April said.

"May I finish?" I asked.

"Yeah sure, I don't mind." April said.

"Thank you. Now then, Tiffany, you are the Pink Ranger and will control the Panther Zord and the Panther Baton."

"No sharp edges…perfect for her." April said.

"And a Pink Panther Zord…how cute." Chris mocked.

"May I? Jesse, you will be the Blue Ranger and control the Cougar Zord and have a blaster for your weapon. Finally, Derek, you will lead the team as the Red Ranger. You will have the Tiger Zord and Tiger Sword." I said.

"Um, forgetting someone?" Harley asked.

"I didn't forget, I'm not done. These are our five Rangers, but I can't expect you five to be Rangers without any sort of guidance. Harley, you have been a wonderful Ranger for the past three years and I am proud to have passed my Purple power down to you. I now pass on something else, you will be the second Ranger Trainer. As the Purple Ranger, in control of the Lion Zord and Staff weapon you will be responsible for Training this new team." I said.

"Awesome! New powers!" Harley said excitedly.

"Way to go Har." Anna said.

"Anna, I'm sorry I have no power for you, but your Neo Powers are still active and I'm sure the Rangers will be happy to have your help from time to time." I said.

"No problem. I'm happy to have my normal life back anyway." Anna said.

"OK then, are there any questions?" I asked.

"I'm too overwhelmed to even think of questions." Jesse said.

"Well then let me fill you in on the rules. 1) Keep your identities secret. 2) Do not seek a battle, let it find you, and do not escalate it. 3) Never use your powers for personal gain." Hunter said.

"Understood." Derek said. It was the first time since he'd been here I saw him look serious about something. Maybe this crazy idea of having our students as Rangers would actually work.


	4. Learning to Cope

PRWC 4- "Learning to Cope"

_"I need you now  
Do you think you can cope  
You figured me out - I'm lost and I'm hopeless  
Bleeding and broken - though I've never spoken  
I come undone - in this mad season"_

_~ "Mad Season" Matchbox 20_

"OK, group dismissed, Chris may I talk to you for a second?" Hunter asked.

"What's up?" I asked walking over.

"Your mom is coming up to see you tomorrow." He said.

"Just my mom?"

"Yeah."

"Oh…why?"

"To see you…she didn't say any specific reason."

"OK…thanks." I said heading to the kitchen to help serve dinner.

My name is Chris Hayes and 15, I'm also the new Black Ranger…now that's something I never expected. I ended up at Starlight Academy because I was busted for tagging and possession of weed. Now I'm a Power Ranger…

What freaked me out about my mom visiting me alone was that my dad kept her on a pretty short leash. She was never allowed to do anything without his permission and normally she couldn't go anywhere without him either.

"So what did you do now?" April asked as I pulled down some plates.

"Nothing. I'm getting a visit." I said.

"Lucky you." April mumbled.

"Like you wouldn't want your parents to visit." Tiffany said.

"I don't. In case you forgot Princess I was the one who ran away so I could escape them." April said.

"At least you have parents to visit you." Jesse said softly.

"Look at that, he speaks." I said.

"So when are they coming?" Tiffany asked.

"Not they…just my mom and tomorrow." I said.

"Oh great, this means we'll have to clean the dorms." Derek said.

"Hey, I'm not thrilled about this either." I said.

"Guys, hurry with dinner, we have some hungry students out here." Harley said peeking her head in.

"Yeah, yeah." April said.

"You guys are more like turtles than wildcats." Harley said coming in to help.

"We're just allergic to work." I said.

"Oh please…if that's true the world is in serious trouble." Harley said.

We finally got dinner out to everyone and were able to sit down and eat.

Hunter

"I don't believe you Hunter…how could you?" Michelle asked.

"I warned you Mich. I gave you time and you didn't find anyone." I said.

"But to hire Conner after I said no..."

"You never even gave me a good reason! We need someone and he applied."

"Isn't the fact I said no enough of a reason?"

"Not when I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to coach and keep up with my head master duties."

"But Conner…"

"Conner is good. We're lucky to have him so just deal. He starts tomorrow." I said.

"And how does Kira feel about this?"

"I don't know."

"I bet she's no happier than I am."

"What is it between you three? I asked. She obviously had a problem with both Conner and Kira and I couldn't figure out why.

"Nothing, I just don't want Conner working at my school." She said as Felicity toddled in.

"Daddy, apes." She said

I smiled. "Ok sweetie. Mich, I'll be at the house if you need me." I said picking up Felicity and walking to the house to give her grapes.

Chris

"Ok Wildcats, I want this dorm spotless. We have a visitor tomorrow." Harley said.

"Har, this is the boys dorm, you shouldn't be here." I said.

"It's before 8 and I'm a staff member. I think it's ok. Don't think you're escaping my supervision." She said.

"Fine." We mumbled as we started to clean. I was folding my clothes when we heard footsteps stomp upstairs. Seconds later Josh came in, he didn't look happy.

"Whoa, where's the fire?" Harley asked.

"Sorry guys, didn't mean to interrupt…Julia said I'd find you here Har." Josh said.

"Yeah, Chris's mom is visiting tomorrow so we're cleaning up." Harley.

"No, you mean we're cleaning up and you're supervising." I said.

"Yeah, I don't see you cleaning." Derek said.

"What's wrong Josh?" Jesse asked.

"Maybe he needs to talk in group." I laughed.

"Stop it…Josh, are you ok?" Harley asked.

"Can we talk alone?" Josh asked her.

"Of course…guys I expect you guys to keep cleaning. I want to see progress when I get back." Harley said walking out with Josh.

"I want to see progress when I get back." I mimicked.

"Guys, I don't think she was kidding, we should keep working." Jesse said.

"You keep working, I'm taking a nap. We don't get nearly enough sleep in this place." I said laying down.

"I hear that." Derek said laying on his bed.

"You can't seriously expect me to finish this myself…" Jesse said.

"Hey, that's your call." I said.

"Well…I guess I can keep cleaning." Jesse said.

"Is he always such a push over?" Derek whispered towards me.

"Always." I said laughing. I knew we'd get Jesse to do the hard work.

Harley

"Josh, what's wrong?" I asked once we were alone.

"I couldn't stay at home. My mom is pissed that my dad took a job here." Josh said.

"They ended up hiring him?" I asked.

"Yeah? You didn't hear? My dad is the new coach and my mom is furious. They were fighting really bad so Anna went to practice with her band and I had to get out."

"I'm sorry this is causing problems for you."

"Thanks….so Ms. Hayes is coming in tomorrow?"

"Yeah…"

"You know, we should get in there. Ten bucks says those lazy cats got Jesse to do all the cleaning."

I sighed, "I bet you're right. Jesse needs to learn not to be such a push over."

"HARLEY!" Julia called as she ran over.

"What?" I asked.

"Phone call for you." She said.

"Phone call? Ok. Josh can you supervise?" I asked.

"Sure, not a problem." He said.

"Ok, thanks." I said running off with Julia.

Chris

I was just starting to fall asleep when I heard a voice.

"ATTENTION! All Wildcats front and center!" Josh barked.

"Ugh, man can't a guy sleep around here?" I mumbled.

"Chris, Derek, now!" Josh said.

Yeah, right. Like I had any intention of moving now.

"Dude, just step off." I mumbled.

"Yeah, we're just trying to rest." Derek added.

"If I have to go get Hunter he'll not be so kind. Do you really want to spend Sunday chopping wood?" Josh asked.

"Fine, fine." I groaned and Derek and I stood up.

"Ok, room looks good. Jesse you're dismissed. Derek and Chris, get to work or face wood chopping duty." Josh said.

"You've got to be kidding." I said.

"Why is he getting out?" Derek asked.

"Because he did more than his share of the work so now he gets rewarded while you guys finish the job." Josh said as he let Jesse out of the room.

"Man, this is whack." I said as I went back to cleaning.

"Come on guys, pick up the pace. We wanna finish before midnight." Josh said.

"Where's Harley?" Derek asked.

"She had a phone call to answer." Josh said.

Just our luck. Harley was bad enough then we get stuck with Mr. Drill Sergeant. Can a guy never catch a break?

Harley

I went into the lodge and got the phone.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Harley? Hey baby." Jay said.

"Jay? Oh god, it's good to hear from you. How have you been?" I asked.

"Great. I'm doing great. You?"

"I'm great too. How's training?"

"I'm getting back into the swing of things."

"That's good." I said.

Insert awkward silence.

"Listen, I called because I'm coming to town this weekend. I need to see you."

"Oh…that's great! Um…is everything ok?"

"Yeah…um everything is fine."

"OK…then I guess I'll see you Saturday?"

"Ok…see you then. Bye."

"Bye." I said hanging up.

"Everything ok?" Julia asked.

"I guess so…but I felt like I was talking to a total stranger." I said as Jesse walked in. "Jesse, shouldn't you be cleaning?" I asked.

"Josh dismissed me because Derek and Chris made me do most of the work. He is making them finish it." Jesse said.

I laughed, "Serves them right. What did they do?"

"They were going to take naps while I cleaned." Jesse replied.

"Can't leave Chris alone for a second without him trying to get some extra sleep."

"His mom is coming tomorrow right?" Julia asked.

"Yeah." I said.

"Good luck…parent visits aren't always a walk in the park." She said.

"No kidding." I said as Felicity came toddling in with a cup of grapes.

"Hary ape?" she asked holding a grape up.

"Thank you Liss." I said taking the grape and eating it.

"Esse ape?" she asked holding up another grape.

Jesse smiled. "Thank you Felicity." He said taking the grape.

"Ju Ju ape?" she asked.

I started cracking up.

"Ju Ju? I wonder who taught her that." Julia said shooting me a look.

"That's my sister, what can I say?" I asked picking up Liss and hugging her.

Chris

We finally finished cleaning just as it was time for lights out, which was fine with me. I happily got into bed and quickly fell asleep. As I slept I dreamt.

"Chris let's move it. They're coming." 

"No Dave, we can take 'em." I said.

"There's 5 of them, 2 of us. We need back up." Dave said.

"No, we need to teach those trespassers a lesson." I said turning back.

"Mike will be pissed if you try taking them without help."

"Like I give a shit what Mike thinks." I said as I turned to face the rival gang coming at us.

"Chris, come on." Dave said.

"Not smart little boy, should have listened to your friend." One of the guys said coming at me.

"I'll show you little boy. This is my hood, you should have stayed out." I said.

"Big words little boy." Another guy said coming at me. This one pulled a gun.

"Chris!" Dave cried pushing me out of the way. 

"Dave!" I cried as I noticed he had been shot.

"Get gone…get gone and don't look back, go!" Dave screamed.

I jumped up and ran.

"That's it, run away little boy. Run home to Momma." They all called after me.

I sat up in bed and jerked awake. I looked at the time. They'd be waking us up in 5 minutes anyway. I rolled out of bed and went to take a shower before anyone woke up. By the time I was showered and dressed everyone else was getting up. I went out to get an early start on breakfast.

"Hey, you ok? You're never up first." Hunter said coming in the kitchen.

"Fine." I mumbled as I took my toast out of the toaster.

"Your mom called. She'll be here around 10"

"Ok, so I'm missing class?"

"Yes. Your grades have been good so Michelle and I decided to give you a day pass so you can leave campus with your mom."

"About time I got away from this dump."

"But that means you're in charge of breakfast clean up on your own. Well that and I heard what you and Derek pulled on Jesse last night."

"Oh? And what does Derek have to do?"

"He has to cook oatmeal for 160 students on his own." Hunter said as Derek walked in mumbling.

"At least it's not wood chopping" I said.

"Oh the week is young. Keep up mistreatment of Jesse and you'll be chopping wood until your arms fall off." Hunter said leaving us alone.

"Just great." Derek said as he filled a pot with water. "So what are you doing up. I thought your goal in life was to sleep until they dragged you out of bed."

"Yeah, nightmare."

"Yeah, my mom visiting would give me nightmares too."

"No, not that…other stuff. I'm not worried too much about my mom visiting."

"I would. Moms suck."

"Michelle is a cool mom." I pointed out.

"Michelle is different. She's like superhuman or something…in general."

"My mom is pretty cool I guess." I said.

"Then you're lucky." Derek said.

Derek finally got breakfast served and when everyone was done I cleaned up. Right as I was finishing Michelle came in and told me my mom was there. I went to the office and there sat my mom.

"Ma…" I said hugging her.

"Christopher, my boy." She said hugging me tight.

"Good to see you." I said.

"Yes it is. Mr. Bradley tells me I can take you off campus for the day."

"Then let's go." I said

"Please have him back by 7:00." Michelle said.

"Of course, can't miss group." I said.

"Don't worry, I'll have him back." Mom said as we left. I got in her car and we drove. "So where do you want to go?"

"I don't know…let's see what there is around here." I said.

We drove quietly until we got to town.

"Cyberspace…I hear Harley and Josh talking about that place a lot, let's check it out." I said.

"Ok." She said parking the car.

We went in and found a table.

"Hi, welcome to Cyberspace. I'm Savannah, what can I get for you?" a lady asked. Something about her was very familiar.

"I'll just have a soda." I said.

"Me too." Mom said.

"Coming right up." Savannah said.

"So what are you doing here without Dad?" I asked.

"That can wait…how's school?" Mom asked.

"It's ok. I guess I like it ok." I said as Savannah brought us our sodas.

"Have you made any friends?" Mom asked.

"I guess sorta." I said.

"Good."

"Mom, where's Dad?" I asked again.

She sighed, "I left him. We're getting a divorce."

"What?" I asked. I couldn't have heard right.

"I can't take his abuse anymore Chris. I had to get away so I filed for divorce." She said.

"How could you? He gave you everything." I said.

"All he gave me was black eyes. Chris, I came here to warn you…when you get out of Starlight you'll have to pick who you want to live with."

"And you want me to pick you…"

"Yes. I'm moving to Angel Grove. I hear it's a nice place and it'll be easy to stay out of trouble."

"How could you break up my family? Take me away from my father? You bitch! I hate you!" I screamed.

"Chris, don't cause a scene." Mom said trying to calm me down.

"Just get the hell away from me! Stay out of my life!" I cried running outside. I looked around then just took off running. I didn't care where I was going, just that I was going.

I was running through the town square when a monster showed up.

"A lone Ranger…goody good." The monster said.

"I am so not in the mood for this!" I screamed as I held up my Morpher. "Wild Cat Transform!"

I faced off with the monster and pulled my crossbow and shot at him. He dodged.

"Ok, that's how you want it? Fine." I said jump kicking. The monster threw me back. "ARG!" I screamed as I attacked with a furied rage. I was thrown back again. That's when I heard a voice.

"You know it isn't smart to take on a monster alone Chris, get out of here and call for back up." Josh said.

"You know?" I asked.

"Yeah, but can we talk about that later? You can't take him alone" Josh said.

"But this is my turf" I said as I saw the monster aim at us.

"Chris watch out!" Josh said pushing me out of the way. I suddenly felt a major sense of déjà vu.

"Not this time!" I cried stepping in front of Josh to protect him. I fired my bow to knock the monster's blast off. "You're right Josh…let's go get back up." I said helping him up as we ran for cover.

"Ok, you do know your Morpher doubles as a communicator right?" Josh asked.

"It does?" I asked.

"Yup, they must have forgotten to tell you that part." Josh said.

I held my Morpher up. "Hunter, Michelle, Derek…come in…trouble in the town square." I said.

"We're on our way." Derek said.

In no time all my team mates, Harley included, were with me. We fought the monster together and in to time he was history. I thought we were done but then the monster grew.

"Big shock." Harley mumbled, "Call the Zords." She said.

We formed the Wildcat Megazord for the first time. Totally rocked.

"I could get used to this." I said.

"Totally. This is killer." April said.

"It's kinda high up." Tiffany said.

"Princess…" I mumbled.

We decimated the monster and the others went back to campus. Harley stayed behind.

"Power down!" we commanded.

"So, what's the problem? What were you doing out here alone anyway?" she asked.

"My mom just notified me she's leaving my father and I lost control." I said.

"I'm sorry…but have you considered it might be for the best. When my mom left…my other dad…I was angry too but in the end it turned out great because if my parents never got married then we wouldn't have Starlight Academy or Felicity. Everything happens for a reason. Maybe you should try talking to your mom…you don't have to be happy but just discuss things with her." Harley said.

I sighed, she made a good point. "Ok…I'll go talk to her."

"Good…and keep control of that temper…see ya round." She said heading back to Reefside U.

I went back to Cyberspace and saw my mom talking to Savannah and crying.

"Ma?" I asked.

"I'll leave you two alone." Savannah said leaving.

"I'm sorry this is so hard for you Chris, but it's what I have to do." Mom said.

I sighed, "I'm sorry I lost my temper…I think we should talk about this." I said sitting back down.


	5. My Happy Ending

PRWC 5- "My Happy Ending"

_"You were everything, everything that I wanted  
We were meant to be, supposed to be, but we lost it  
All of the memories, so close to me, just fade away  
All this time you were pretending  
So much for my happy ending"_

_~ "My Happy Ending" Avril Lavigne_

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Five minutes since last time you asked Har." Josh asked.

"Maybe I should go to Cyberspace now…ya know just in case he gets there early." I said.

"If you want to then go for it." Josh said.

"Josh, you're so clueless. She hasn't seen her boyfriend in months, she just excited." Julia said.

"Yeah, I know." Josh mumbled.

"Har, go ahead and go to Cyberspace. Maybe if you use the net or something time will go faster." Julia said.

"Great idea…see you guys later." I said running out the door. I saw my Wildcats coming back in from their hike as I headed for my car.

"Harley! Good luck with Jay." Tiffany said.

"Don't let him give you any lame excuses about why he hasn't come to visit sooner." April said.

"And don't let him use lines to get in your pants." Chris said.

"If he says how much he missed you and he won't see you again for awhile so you need to do it now, that's a line. Run the other way." Derek said.

"But other than that have fun." Jesse said.

I laughed, "Thanks guys. I'll keep that in mind." I said. It was cute they were trying to protect me. I got in my purple mustang and headed for cyberspace.

I walked in and sat down. The place was really slow for a Saturday.

"Hey Harley." Savannah said sitting down with me.

"Hey Savannah, slow day?" I asked.

"Yeah, it should pick up later. So what brings you here alone?"

"I'm meeting my boyfriend. He's coming in from out of town."

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend."

"It's been awhile since I've seen him. He goes to college in Thousand Oaks."

"What's he like?"

"Well, his name is Jay and he's…well honestly I don't know what he's like anymore. I haven't seen him in about six months." I said.

"Maybe you guys can reconnect while he's here." Savannah said.

"Maybe." I said as I saw a familiar face walk in. "Jay!" I cried.

"Harley!" he rushed over and pulled me into his arms. We hugged tight. "It's so good to see you Har."

"Good to see you too!" I said hugging him again. "Oh…Jay, this is my friend Savannah James, she runs this place."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Jay Watanabe." Jay said shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you." Savannah said, "If you'll excuse me, I'll just leave you kids alone." She walk walking to the counter.

"So, how have you been?" I asked.

"Good. School is good, Academy life is good. If I had you everything would be perfect." He said.

"I can't leave here." I said.

"I know, the school." He said.

"That and…well a new team of Rangers was recruited and I'm training them." I said lowering my voice.

"You're kidding. Another team?" he asked.

"Yes, another team. And this team really needs me."

"So then you really are stuck here…"

"Yeah…but I like it here. I have friends here…I have a life here now."

"You make it sounds like that erases everything we went through in Angel Grove."

"Of course not! You guys will always be my friends. Mel will always be my best friend and of course Tony and Lindsey will always be my cousins…things are just different now." I said as I head a voice.

"Jay?!" Anna asked.

"Anna! Hey!" Jay said hugging her.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"Good, good. Have you heard from Aaron lately?" Jay asked.

"Yeah, he's doing good. He's gonna try to come see me first chance he gets but we talk or e-mail everyday." Anna said.

"That's great." Jay said.

"Well, I just came to get a guitar I left here. I'll let you guys visit, it was great seeing you." Anna said hugging him again before she left.

"She seems happy with Aaron." Jay said.

"Yeah…imagine that, a couple that talks everyday and they're happy. Someone alert the media." I said sourly.

"Har? Is something wrong?"

"No, I just wish we talked more."

"You know I'm busy with school and the Academy and you have your own life here…but I'm here now. Let's make the most of it." He said leaning over the table to kiss me.

I kissed him back. "Let's get out of here." I said.

"Ok." He said. We went for a walk through town and talked about the way things were. We had so much fun. We went to the park and goofed around. He pushed me on the swing and I jumped on his back in the sandbox which sent us both tumbling to the ground. He tickled me and I used an escape to get away and jump on his back again. He carried me around the park. It was awesome. Almost like we turned back time and that six months apart never happened.

We ended up sitting on the beach, watching the ocean. He had his arm around me and I leaned on him.

"Harley, I really missed you." He said.

"I missed you too Jay…more than I thought." I said kissing him.

Derek

It was time for our Saturday group activity. After the hike Hunter took us on we all were ready to collapse in the lodge and not move until dinner.

"Were those mountains really necessary?" April asked as she fell next to me on the sofa.

"Builds endurance. Now come on, activity time." Hunter said.

"I think a nap is something we all want ergo making it a group activity." Jesse said.

"Oh come on guys, I thought Chris was the only one who tried to sneak naps." Hunter said.

"Hunter, I'm a trained athlete and even I'm worn out." I said.

"Fine, don't tell Harley and you guys can rest in here until dinner. I have work to do to get ready for our new coach anyway." Hunter said.

"New coach?" Tiffany asked.

"Yeah, I hired Conner McKnight." Hunter said.

"So Michelle finally gave you permission?" Chris teased.

"I don't need permission! I own half this school." Hunter said.

"Either she gave you permission or she's not speaking to you." Chris said.

"And since I haven't seen her around you lately I'm guessing she's not speaking to you." April said.

"Well, I may have done it without her consent…but it'll be ok. Conner is a great coach and you guys will love him." Hunter said.

"It's ok Hunter, if Michelle kicks you out you can bunk with us." Chris said.

"Not if…when." April said laughing as Julia and Josh walked in.

"Hey Wildcats." Julia said.

"Hey Jules." Tiffany said.

"What's wrong with you?" April asked Josh.

"He's sore because Harley is on a date with her boyfriend." Julia said.

"I am not! I told you Julia, I don't have a thing for Harley. She's just my friend." Josh said.

"Yeah, sure." Julia said.

"How sweet…you're jealous!" Tiffany said.

"I'm not jealous. I'm just…leave me alone." Josh said walking away from us.

"He likes her." April said.

"No kidding." I said.

"Hunter, you have to fix them up." Tiffany said.

"No way. Harley sees who Harley wants. She's a grown woman now, she can pick her own boyfriends." Hunter said.

"He's afraid she'll stop speaking to him too." April said.

"I just know better than to get involved with Harley's love life. As long as she's with Jay that's fine with me." Hunter said.

"Do you like this Jay guy?" I asked.

"He's the son of a friend and my sister so he's kinda me nephew…I guess he's ok…has a long way to go if be where he wants though." Hunter said.

"He's your nephew and Harley is your daughter…that means…" Tiffany started.

"No, no…they aren't blood related. I was adopted remember? Jay's mom is my foster sister." Hunter said.

"Oh…that's still a little weird." April said.

"Yeah, it is." Hunter said.

"Like it's any weirder than any of us. We're all a little messed up or we wouldn't be here." I said.

"Well since were all inside sitting around how about a group session?" Hunter asked.

"Ugh…" we groaned.

"What about your work?" I asked.

"It can wait. Oh come on, it'll be fun…" Hunter said.

"Since when is group anyone's idea of fun?" April asked.

"It's group or short individuals, your call." Hunter said.

"Group sounds good." April said.

"Yeah, let's get started." Chris said.

"Circle up." Hunter said.

"Can't we stay where we are and talk?" I asked.

"Ok, fine…just this once." Hunter said as Felicity came in. I really didn't like that kid. She was spoiled and annoying. Everyone around here, including most of the students, treated her like a princess.

"Daddy…hone." She said.

"Phone? Your mother sent you didn't she?" Hunter asked.

Felicity nodded.

"Ok, did she say who it was?"

"Conehead." Felicity said.

Hunter sighed, "She can't say 'phone' but Mich had her saying 'Conehead' crystal clear." He turned to us, "Ok guys, you're safe, that's the new coach on the phone."

"Coach Conehead?" April laughed.

"Enough, I better not hear you guys call him that. That's something Michelle started when they were younger." Hunter said walking away to get the phone.

Harley

As the sun started to set we went to get dinner.

"You know, all day we've been reliving the past and we haven't actually discussed the present or future." I said.

"Sure we have." Jay said.

"We have? All I know is you're really busy at the Thunder Academy and you're attending classes. I don't know who you hang with these days or what you do for fun…where you see your life going, am I part of it…"

"Harley, I love you and I hope you're always a part of my life."

"Do you? Then why won't you talk to me? If you cared so much why not make time to call me?"

"You know that goes both ways." He shot back.

"How exactly? You never left me your damn number."

"I live at the Thunder Academy, how hard is it to call over there?"

"I called a couple of times a few months back and you were never around."

"Sorry I have a life."

"You obviously are fine without me."

"Har…" he took a breath, "Harley, listen to me…I love you and I don't want to spend the rest of my visit fighting…come on…let's get out of here."

"Ok." I said. We were finished eating so he paid and we went to his car. He drove to the beach parking lot, which was deserted, and killed the engine.

"What are we doing here?" I asked.

"You're right, we need to reconnect." Jay said.

"Ok…" I said.

"So we're gonna reconnect." He said leaning over to kiss me. I kissed him back. He put his hand under my shirt and I pushed him away. I knew where this was going.

"Jay no." I said.

"Why not? We love each other so why not?"

"Because I'm not ready."

"We've been together two years, when will you be ready?"

"I don't know but it's not tonight. Not when our relationship is so shaky."

"Maybe this will save it."

"Sex never saves anything. It only complicates things more. Look what happened with my mom…sex never gave her anything but trouble. I don't want to end up like her."

"Harley, come on…we have solid relationship."

"No we don't! How can you say that when you won't even wait for me?!"

"I've waited two years! Even Crystal only made me wait two mo…oh…"

"You've been sleeping with Crystal?"

"I…Har…you don't understand…I was lonely and she was there…"

"Oh I understand. I mean so little to you that you couldn't wait. You decided to screw my best friend's cousin. I should have left you two years ago. I was an idiot to let Aaron go for someone like you. It's over Jay and I don't want to see you ever again." I said reaching for the door handle to get out of the car.

He grabbed my wrist. "Harley, don't go…I do love you."

"Bullshit, if you loved me you wouldn't have screwed Crystal…and Crystal maybe a lot of things but boyfriend stealer isn't one of them, you told her we broke up didn't you?"

"Well…I…"

"Fuck you…let me go." I said pulling away from him and getting out of the car.

"Harley!"

"Leave me alone!" I screamed as I took off running. I ended up running back to Cyberspace. It was closed and I fell down by the building and started to sob.

"Harley? What's wrong?" Savannah asked.

"Oh…I didn't know anyone was here." I said.

"I was just leaving…what happened?" she asked.

"Jay and I broke up." I said.

"Oh sweetie, I'm sorry. Come inside, I'll make you some cocoa, on the house." Savannah said unlocking the door and leading me in. I sat at the bar as she made some cocoa. She poured us each a cup and then went to the back and brought out a cheesecake.

"It's my emergency boy crisis kit." She said smiling. "So what happened?"

"Well, Jay and I have been having problems for awhile now…the long distance thing just wasn't working out and…and well we had fun today and I thought maybe we could fix things. I wanted to talk things out…he wanted to take a more physical approach." I said.

"Typical."

"And when I said I wasn't ready he got angry and admitted to sleeping with my best friend's cousin."

"Oh god…I'm so sorry Har."

"Me too."

"Needless to say I dumped him."

"Good for you. You did the right thing."

"I know…it's for the best." I said taking a bite of the desert. "Oh, good cheesecake."

"Thanks. I made it myself. Always like to keep one on hand for such an occasion."

"You stayed here and had all this ready for me didn't you?"

"Guilty as charged. I saw Jay's body language earlier and I just had a feeling something wasn't right. I saw you left your car here to go with him so I decided to hang till you came to get your car. I had my emergency kit ready just in case I was right. For what it's worth I wish I were wrong."

"Thanks Savannah." I said.

"Hey…we're practically family…" Savannah said.

"Huh?"

"I mean…us kids of former Rangers gotta stick together right?"

"Oh…of course…you know?"

"Yeah…I'm like my mom, I know pretty much everything…pretty much."

"Except who your birth father is."

"Yeah…and I guess it doesn't matter…I love my dad a lot…but I guess I'd just like to see where I came from…I mean as far as I know my birth father doesn't even know I exist…my birth mother never told him about me…I think he has a right to know he has a daughter in the world."

"If you want I could try to help you find out who he is."

"Um…thanks Har, but I think it's better I do it on my own."

"Ok…well I guess I should head home."

"Ok…I'll see you later."

"Sure thing. Thanks for the cheesecake…and the talk." I said hugging Savannah as I walked out the door. I felt safe with Savannah…like we were somehow connected…I didn't know why though…

I got back in my car and drove back to the Academy. I wasn't ready to go to the dorms and face Julia's questioning so I went to the lake. I saw Josh sitting out there.

"This seat taken?" I asked.

"Is now." He said.

I plopped next to him.

"So how did it go?" he asked.

"We broke up."

"What? Why?"

"Stuff."

"Oh come on Har…tell me what happened."

I told him the story. By the end of retelling it I was crying. I guess it just got to me.

"Oh god…Har…I'm so sorry." Josh said pulling me into his arms.

"I should have seen him for what he was sooner."

"You thought you loved him."

"I was an idiot."

"No…not at all. He's the idiot."

"How do you figure?"

"For not seeing what a great girl he had. If I had someone like you I'd wait forever."

I smiled. "Thanks Josh." I said leaning on his shoulder. I fell asleep leaning on him.

I don't know how much time passed but I half way woke up when I felt Josh pick me up to carry me to my room. I felt him put me in bed and kiss my head before leaving.

As I drifted back into sleep I wondered if breaking up with Jay was really the worst thing in the world.


	6. Learning to Win

PRWC 6- "Learning to Win"

_"I just got to get it right  
Before I make it wrong  
Cause I'm breaking out and rising up  
While the world is falling down..."_

_"Dreaming in Red"~ The Calling_

"And this is the field, it's nothing like the one at RHS but it should work." I said.

"Thanks Hunter, I appreciate this. It'll be nice to get a fresh start. Everything at the high school was just so political, it wasn't even about the team anymore, it became about the money." Conner said.

"Not here, here it's all about the students." I said as we saw the Wild Cats walking with Harley. "Speaking of student, these are the Wild Cats. April, Tiffany, Chris, Jesse, and…where's Derek?"

Harley turned and looked. "Um…good question, I thought he was right behind me."

"Harley, you know he's a run risk, you should have been watching him." I said.

"I'm sorry Dad…I messed up. I'll find him." Harley said.

I sighed, "We'll all look for him. I'm sorry about this Conner, sometimes stuff like this happens."

"It's ok. I understand. I knew what I was getting when I took this job." Conner said.

"So this is Coach Conehead?" April asked with a smirk.

"I see Michelle has mentioned me." Conner said.

"Yes she has…I'm sorry Conner. Guys, I told you not to call him that. It's Coach McKnight or Conner." I said.

"On that note can we look for Derek?" Harley asked.

"Do you need help?" Conner asked.

"I think we got it covered. Didn't you say your family was coming in today anyway?" I asked.

"Yeah, but if you need help…" Conner started.

"No, go see your family." I said.

"OK, see you later. Good luck" Conner said leaving.

"Now then, Harley, you take Jesse and April, Tiffany and Chris you come with me." I said.

"OK, Wild Cats, let's move." Harley said as we split up.

We spent the next half hour looking for him.

"This sucks. Our free time gets cut because Mr. Prom King had to go run off." Chris said.

"Save it for group Chris." I said.

"Why would Derek take off?" Tiffany asked.

"I don't know Tiff…let's keep looking." I said.

"Dad! I found him, we're going back to the lodge." Harley said over the 2-way radio.

"Ok, we'll meet you there." I said.

"About time." Chris mumbled.

"Chris, stop it. Let's go." I said as went back to the lodge. We got in and I found Harley talking to Derek.

"I said I felt like it ok? Lay off" I heard Derek say.

"Hey Dad, Derek here says he took off because he felt like it." Harley said.

"Derek, I've told you, that doesn't fly here." I said.

"Guys, hate to interrupt but we have problems." Michelle said walking up.

I sighed, this was the problem with having students here be Rangers. "Ok, go. We'll finish this later." I said.

"Fine, let's get this over with." Derek said as Harley led the Wild Cats to a safe spot. I turned to talk to Michelle but she was gone. "Just great." I sighed.

Harley

"Ok, let's do this." I said as we morphed. We went and found Arissa and those robot things. "You again." I said.

"Me again. I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting these Rangers. I am Arissa and really, there is no need to fight, hand over the Purple Ranger and her mother and I'll leave quietly." Arissa said.

"Arissa…have we met? You look familiar…." Jesse said.

"You expect us to hand over Harley and Michelle? Yeah right, not gonna happen." April said.

"Fine, then face the wrath of my Bots." Arissa said sending them to attack.

"Ok, Rangers, time for action." I said as we started to fight. We beat them.

"Nice Rangers, but that's not all I've got…meet Apophis" Arissa said as this big Egyptian snake thing showed up.

"Oh, eww!" Tiffany cried.

"Can we please keep the squealing to a minimum?" April asked.

"Guys, come on. We can do this." I said. I called on my weapon and fought. I was holding my own but the others were having some trouble…well except for Derek. He had a real knack for fighting. "Guys…you can do it." I said as we got blasted.

"Well, I think that's enough for now, you've seen what I can do so maybe you'll rethink giving up the Princess and her mother. See you soon Rangers." Arissa said disappearing with Apophis.

"You guys are such losers!" Derek cried.

"Hey man, step off…we tried." Chris said.

"Trying won't save the world. How could you have picked these guys Harley? They are nothing!" Derek shouted.

"Derek, that's enough." I said.

"Yeah, we're still new to this. Some of us aren't champion athletes like you Mr. Big Shot." April said.

"Enough, everyone back to the Academy now!" I yelled.

We de-morphed and got back to the Academy.

"Oh no, you guys don't look like you're celebrating a victory." Dad said.

"How can we win with this group of losers?" Derek asked.

"Derek I said that's enough." I said.

"Stop defending them, you know they suck." Derek said.

"Ok, enough. Michelle and I wouldn't have picked you guys if we didn't think you could handle things. Derek, you are leader for a reason. You have experience being captain of your sports teams, what I'm seeing isn't leadership." Dad said.

"I lead winners, not losers." Derek said.

"Ok, fine, have it your way. You're on room restriction until further notice." Dad said.

"Fine! You act like I care!" Derek said storming off.

Dad sighed. "Ok, Harley, Josh invited you over for dinner. His cousins are in. You can go if you want, I'll cover for you here. I'm not in any hurry to get back to the house anyway."

"Mom still mad?" I asked.

"Yep."

"Ok. I'll see you later then…bye Wild Cats…and you did well. We'll get it later." I said leaving.

I got to the McKnight house and rang the doorbell. Josh answered.

"Hey Har, glad you could make it." He said hugging me.

"Wouldn't miss it." I said following him in.

"OK, let me introduce everyone. Harley, this is my Uncle Eric, Aunt Tally, and my cousins, DJ, Noah, and Beth. Guys, this is my best friend Harley Bradley." Josh said.

"Oh, Michelle and Hunter's daughter?" Eric asked.

"Yes." I said.

"I know your parents. It's very nice to meet you." Eric said.

"Likewise." I said finding an empty chair as Kira walked in.

"Oh…hello Harley." Kira said shortly. I knew she didn't like me because of who my mother was.

"Hi Mrs. McKnight." I said politely, no need to make her hate me more.

"How's your dad?" Kira asked.

"He's fine." I said.

"Glad to hear it. Where is Anna?" Kira asked.

"Her room." Josh said.

"I'll go get her if you'd like." I said…see I'm trying to make peace.

"Thank you Harley, that would be nice." Kira said, her tone softening just a bit…I knew I had a long way to go.

I sighed and went to Anna's room and knocked on the door before I went in.

"So you hiding?" I asked.

"Yes. Anything to get away from that air headed cousin of mine. Beth is a total snob job." Anna said.

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"It's the truth. She's a cheerleader and everything. I so don't want her going to my school. She's gonna make my life hell!" Anna cried.

"Well if you stay in here your mother is gonna make your life hell." I said.

Anna sighed, "Fine…let's get this over with."

Derek

I was sitting on my bed furious when Hunter came in.

"Derek, you were way out of line."

"Me? I'm not the one that let the giant snake escape." I said.

"Don't you get it? This isn't all about winning. You guys stopped the monster for now so it can't hurt anyone, that's what counts! As for the others…do you know these kids have been called losers in some form or another their whole lives? You're confirming everything they think about themselves and it's not true!" Hunter said, his voice rising.

"It is true! They are losers!"

"You know why they're here? Tiffany for example, do you know why she's here?"

"Yeah, she can't keep her food down."

"Yes, but do you know why? Because she never felt she was good enough to deserve her parents' love. She always felt inferior. And Jesse…he didn't even do anything to warrant being here except breathing. His parents died and his aunt didn't want him so she shipped him here. Do you see where I'm going? Those kids have been through one problem after another and you are shooting them down again! This is their chance to feel like they can make a real difference…like they mean something. Don't take that away from them." Hunter said.

"Whatever." I said.

"I see I'm not getting through. Just stay here and think about what I've said. I'll have your dinner sent up to you." Hunter said leaving.

I lay back on my bed and stared at the ceiling. What in the hell was everyone's problem here? Why did I get stuck with the biggest losers to ever be Power Rangers? I could do better alone…that was the answer! I would find Apophis and take it out myself…then maybe I could get rid of the losers once and for all…

First I had to get out of here. I looked at the window. No bars…this trust thing they had going with us was stupid. I opened the window and climbed out then began my search. I ended up deep in the woods.

"Arissa! I'm here! Where's Apophis? Scared all of a sudden?" I cried.

"Scared of a lone Ranger? Never." Arissa said sending Apophis back.

"That's more like it. Wild Cat Transform!" I cried. I called on my sword and started to fight. "I've had about enough of you." I said attacking hard.

"Where's your friends?" Arissa asked.

"Don't need them. I can take your lame snake out by myself." I said.

"You think so? You know Red Ranger I could use a warrior like you by my side. Together we could rule the Earth and any other planet we wanted." Arissa said.

"I thought you only wanted Harley and Michelle." I said.

"That's just for revenge, after that I have bigger ambitions. Fight with me Red Ranger, leave your team of losers behind. Fight for the winning team." Arissa said seductively.

I gave this some thought…maybe I shouldn't have but I did. Power and victory seemed so appealing. I almost accepted her offer but something stopped me. "I'd never join you."

"Fine have it your way. Kill him Apophis." Arissa said.

"Not likely." I said attacking with everything I had. I was kicking his butt…for a second. Then I got to see exactly what Apophis could do. He shot some sticky venom at me which pinned me to a tree. I couldn't move and he was coming right at me with my own sword, which I had dropped when I was hit.

Harley

"So you guys are going to enroll at Reefside U too?" I asked.

"Yeah." DJ said.

"You gonna live at home?" I asked.

"No, I think Noah and I are gonna get a dorm or something." DJ said.

"Cool, if you guys ever have free time we always need the help at Starlight." I said.

"Sounds cool." Noah said.

"Maybe, we'll see." DJ said.

"And you're going to Reefside High?" I asked Beth.

"Yes. Oh Anna, I was going to talk to you about that…since we share a last name everyone will know we're related, you think you could get some presentable clothes to wear? You'll kill my rep if you don't." Beth said.

Anna glared.

"That's enough Beth; Anna is fine how she is. You need to stop being so image conscious." Tally said.

"Yeah…sure." Beth said.

"So anyway, what do you do for fun around here?" DJ asked.

"Well mostly we hang out at Cyberspace. It's pretty cool." I said.

"Yeah, we'll have to check it out later." Josh said.

"So what bring you guys to Reefside?" I asked.

"Well, my boss, Kelly Holloway, has opened up a chain of Storm Chargers throughout California. She couldn't oversee all of them anymore so she asked me to take half the stores and the base office for that half is here." Eric said.

"Oh wow, Storm Chargers is that cool bike shop right?" I asked.

"Yes it is." Eric said.

"Sweet, we're getting one here? That rocks." I said.

"You ride?" DJ asked.

"A bit." I said.

"A bit? Har was Angel Grove junior moto champ for three years in a row." Josh said.

I blushed. "Yeah, ok. I ride."

"So do I? You think you'd be up for a race sometime?" DJ asked.

"Name the time and I'm there." I said, I was never one to back down from a challenge.

"You're on." DJ said.

I smiled. "What do you do Mrs. McKnight?" I asked looking at Tally.

"You can call me Tally, and I'm an athletic physical therapist." She said.

"Have you found a job here yet?" I asked.

"Yes, I got a job at that huge sports clinic downtown."

"Oh wow, that's awesome." I said.

"Yes it is. I'm very excited." She said

I was about to say more when my cell phone rang. "Excuse me." I said getting up from the table. I went to the other room. "Hello?"

"Har, it's me. Derek is gone again." Dad said.

"Gone? Where?" I asked.

"I don't know exactly…oh hold on a second…the monitor picked him up just now…he's in trouble in the forest, I'll send the others, meet them there." Dad said.

"Ok on it." I said hanging up. "Thank you for dinner but I need to get going. Duty calls." I said taking off. I morphed and met up with the others.

Derek

Ok so I had gotten myself into a sticky spot…literally. I couldn't think of anyway out. I was just about out of hope when a flash of purple light hit the monster.

"Hey look, Prom King is stuck to a tree." Chris said.

"Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy." April said.

"Can you guys get me down?" I asked.

"Oh, but we're a bunch of losers." Tiffany said.

"Not you too Tiff…"

"Come on guys, let's get him down." Jesse said.

"Why should we?" April asked.

"Because he's our leader and we're still a team." Jesse said.

"Some leader." April said.

"Guys get him down, you need him to form the Wild Blaster and without that there's no stopping this monster." Harley said as she held Arissa back.

"OK fine…let's get him down." Chris said.

"If we have to." April said as they cut me down.

"Thanks guys…now let's finish this." I said as we formed the blaster and finished the monster.

"You Rangers may have won this time but I'll be back. Count on it." Arissa said disappearing.

I looked at my team mates and sighed. "OK guys…I'm sorry…maybe you were the right choice for the Rangers after all…"

"Apology accepted. Now let's get back, I'm starved." Tiffany said.

"You starved? Why bother eating anyway? It's gonna come right back up." April said.

"Enough guys, back to the lodge, now." Harley said.

I laughed to myself. Maybe I'd be ok here after all…maybe…

Arissa

I went back to my base. I couldn't believe the Rangers had won…I couldn't let this happen again. I heard my picta-phone. I picked it up and turned the screen on.

"Arissa, how is the take over going? Have you got the Saturn Princess and Queen yet?" Aunt Aria asked.

"Not yet, but I will. I will avenge my mother's death." I said.

"You better make it fast. You're on Earth now and as long as you're on Earth you will age at the rate of an Earthling."

I nodded "Don't worry Aunt Aria, the Rangers stopped me this time, but they won't again."

Harley

We got back to the lodge and I saw my Dad and Felicity.

"Hey, we won." I said.

"Great…I have a favor." He said.

"OK, shoot." I said.

"Keep Felicity in your room with you tonight?"

"Why?"

"So your mother and I can have some alone time…I want to fix this with her."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" I asked.

"Candlelight, roses, bubble bath…"

"Bubble bath…eww gross mental image…"

Dad laughed, "Sorry."

"Fine she can stay with me, just don't share details." I said

Dad laughed again and handed Liss to me. "Ok, deal."

"Have fun…" I said laughing as I took Liss. I made sure the Wild Cats were eating then I took Liss to bed. When she was asleep I watched her. She didn't know how simple she had it…and I had a feeling my life wouldn't be any easier anytime soon.


	7. Love and Pain

PRWC 7- "Love and Pain"

_"Well there's a hunger in my veins  
And it's driving me insane  
But I guess it all comes down to love and pain"_

_~"Love and Pain" Cher_

"And this is Cyberspace." I said as I walked in with DJ, Josh, and Noah.

"Very cool." Noah said as we found a table.

"Hey guys, what can I get you?" Savannah asked coming over.

"Oh hey Savannah. These are my cousins DJ and Noah. Guys this is Savannah James, she runs the place." Josh said.

"It's nice to meet you guys. So are the McKnights trying to over run the city or what?" Savannah joked.

"Never can have too many McKnights." DJ said with a smirk.

"I'm not so sure about that." Savannah said, "Anyway, what can I get for you guys?"

"Milkshake." Josh said.

"I'll take a smoothie." I said.

"Hmmm…root beer float." DJ said.

"Noah? What do you want?" I asked.

No response.

"Noah? Earth to Noah…" Josh said.

"Oh…um…just a date…I mean shake…milkshake." Noah stuttered.

Savannah smiled. "Coming right up." She went to make our order.

"Someone's got a crush." I teased.

"No I don't" Noah said.

"Oh come on bro, you're so in to her!" DJ said.

"Maybe a little." Noah said.

"Ask her out then." I said.

"What if she says no?" Noah asked.

"I don't think she will." I said.

"No…she's so beautiful…and I'm so…" Noah started.

"You're my twin and we all know how good looking I am so that means you are too." DJ said.

"And so modest." I said.

"I don't even know if she has a boyfriend." Noah said.

"She doesn't." Josh said.

"There, now you know." I said.

"Maybe later, after I know her better." Noah said.

"Suit yourself." I said.

"So Har, you up for a race after this?" DJ asked.

"You know it." I said.

"Here's your drinks." Savannah said coming back and setting our drinks in front of us.

"Thanks Sav." I said.

Tally

"Thanks for helping Kira. There's no way I could have got this unpacked without your help and with Eric setting up the new store and the kids taking off no one else was willing to help." I said.

"No problem. Always glad you help. We're sisters, right?" Kira said sitting down and sipping her lemonade.

"So you didn't seem too happy about Conner working at Starlight." I said.

"I'm not. The idea of my husband working with that traitor day in and day out repulses me." Kira said.

"I know Michelle was wrong but it's been years…maybe it's time to talk it out." I said.

"I don't think so." Kira said.

"OK…well at least Starlight is a worthy cause."

"That's true…though Hunter and Michelle are the poster couple for troubled. I can't see them helping these poor kids."

"Aside from that how are things with Conner?" I asked.

"Great. I'm really happy with him…happier than I ever was with Trent. And our kids…I'm so proud of them. I couldn't ask for more really." Kira said.

"Sounds great." I said. I couldn't help but wonder what my life would have been like if I had gotten Conner instead…not that I didn't like my life, but it was so mundane. Kira seemed so happy with Conner. I had a chance with Conner and I often wondered, especially now that I saw he and Kira's life first hand, if I should have taken it. Sometimes I even felt like second choice to Kira with Eric…I mean she did date him long before I did.

"What about Eric…are you guys happy?" Kira asked.

I nodded. "Yes. Eric is a wonderful husband and a very involved father. My biggest concern is Beth. I'd like to teach her there's more to life than boys and clothes…speaking of which I'm really sorry about that comment she made to Anna."

"Don't worry about it. You can't control what Beth says."

I nodded. "Yeah…I know."

"Anyway I should get going. I told Anna I'd stop at the music store and get her some strings for the guitar." Kira said standing.

"Ok, thanks again for your help." I said.

"Anytime." Kira said leaving.

I went and sat in my new living room and sighed. I did love Eric, I loved him more and more everyday and he was a wonderful man. Any girl would love a husband like him…but there was still that voice in me that questioned if I had made the right choice.

Harley

I was on the last lap of the race against Noah and DJ. I knew I had Noah beat, but just barely. DJ on the other hand…I was having a hard time pulling ahead of him. Then I got my chance. DJ was a free-styler, he took his jumps to high. I used that and got ahead at the last minute. Winning by an inch. We pulled our bikes to the pit and took our helmets off.

"You're good." DJ said.

"Thanks. So are you guys." I said taking a drink of my water.

"I was a little off today." Noah said.

"Yeah, in a race Noah can normally beat me. Racing is his thing, free style is mine." DJ said.

"You were all really good." Josh said. He had been watching.

"How come you never took up moto?" DJ asked.

"Not my thing. I'll stick with music." Josh said.

"Music is good too." Noah said.

"So Harley, I really am impressed with your riding. I'd love to get some tips from you…over dinner maybe?" DJ asked.

"Are you asking me on a date?" I asked.

DJ smiled. "I guess I am. You accepting?"

I nodded. "Yeah, sure. Sounds fun." I noticed Josh looked like a deer in headlights. "You ok?"

"Um, yeah…just remember…I promised Jesse I'd…help him with something. Got to go." Josh said running off.

"That was weird." I said.

"So anyway, pick you up at 7?" DJ asked.

I nodded. "I can't wait." I said loading up my dad's truck and heading back to the Academy.

Josh

I couldn't believe I was so stupid! Here I was, waiting for Harley to get over Jay fully before I asked her out and DJ swoops in and asks her first. I got to the Academy and ran into Julia.

"Whoa boy…what's wrong with you?" she asked.

"Nothing." I growled.

"Oh come on, what did Harley do now? I know it's something with her."

I sighed. "My cousin asked her out."

"And she agreed. That sucks. You gotta be fast on these things. You waited too long." Julia said.

"Obviously…whatever. How are things around here?" I asked.

"Fine. Actually I need to get back to the lodge and check on things. You wanna come?"

"Sure." I said following her. We got back and I heard the phone. "I'll get it." I said. "Starlight Academy, Josh speaking."

"Hello Josh, this is Christine Jennings. Is my daughter, Tiffany, available?"

"I believe so. Just a second Mrs. Jennings." I said putting the phone down. I went to the sitting room. "Tiffany, telephone, it's your mother."

"Ok, thanks." Tiffany said going to get the phone.

Tiffany

When Josh said my mother was on the phone my blood ran cold. What did she want? I took a deep breath and picked up the phone.

"Hello Mother." I said sweetly.

"Hello Tiffany dear. How are things at that school? Are you keeping your weight down?" Mother asked.

"Yes Mother." I said.

"Good girl. I just wanted to let you know that your father and I will be in Reefside on business next week and we will be stopping by to check on you. Make sure you look your best, we might take you to one of our banquets while we're there and we don't want you embarrassing us." Mother said.

"Yes Mother. I'll make sure I look perfect." I said.

"That's my girl."

"Anyway, yesterday we took a history test and I made an 'A'! Can you believe I made an 'A' in history of all things?" I said excited. History was my worst subject so that was a big deal for me.

"That's nice dear, I have work to do now. See you next week. Ta." Mother said hanging up.

"I love you too." I sighed hanging up.

This was great, I had to have gained at least 6 pounds since I'd been here and I had to lose 10 before my mother would be anywhere near happy. I had work to do and I had to get started.

"Tiffany? Lunch time." Conner said walking over.

"I'm not hungry." I said.

"You have to eat something."

"Fine…" I said knowing it was pointless to argue. I went to the dining hall and got a tray then sat with my group. "Yum, soy burgers."

"At least it's healthy." Jesse said.

"I'd rather have a real hamburger any day. Something big and juicy from McDonalds." Chris said.

"So Princess, what did the Queen have to say?" April asked.

"She and my father are coming to see me next week." I said.

"Oh fun. The return of royalty." April said.

"Step off Ape, you know none of us like having parental visits." Chris said.

"At least you all have parents to visit you." Jesse said sourly.

"Dude, chill. What's the deal?" Chris asked.

"I'm so sick of hearing you guys whine about your parents. At least you have parents that are still alive. Some of us just wish we did." Jesse said getting up and leaving.

"Guys, he's right. Maybe we're being insensitive." I said.

"Us? Um no. He just doesn't know what it's like to have crappy parents because his parents actually cared about him. My mom, if you can even call her that, cares more about finding another bottle of Jack than my well being." April said.

"Whatever." I said as I finished eating. I stood up.

"Where are you going? You have to stay with a witness for 30 minutes after you eat." April said.

"Lay off. I'm going to find Jesse. He looked like he needed a friend." I said.

"Ok, fine. Go." April said.

"I am." I said taking off.

I ran back to the dorms and went in the bathroom. I hated using Jesse as an excuse like this but I had no choice. I lifted the lid on the toilet and knelt next to it and forced two fingers down my throat, which forced my food back up. It was the only way to lose weight and keep the staff here happy and I knew I had to look perfect when I saw my mother. When I was finished I cleaned up and went to go find Jesse for real.

Harley

I got back to the Academy and found Mom walk with Felicity.

"Hey!" I said.

"Harley!" Felicity said running over to me as fast as her little legs could go.

"Liss!" I said picking her up and spinning her around.

"Have fun?" Mom asked walking over.

"Totally. And I got a date."

"With who?"

"DJ McKnight." I said smiling.

"Wow…that's great."

"He's awesome. He's hot and funny and rides moto."

"Sounds perfect for you."

"He is. Anyway, did you and Dad make up?"

"Yes we did. I'm still not thrilled about Conehead working here but it's not worth risking my marriage over. I love your father more than I dislike Conner."

"Glad to hear it. What is the deal with you and the McKnights anyway? Kira doesn't seem too fond of you either." I said.

"She isn't. But it's a really long story and it all happened a really long time ago. I'd rather not go into it. Shouldn't you be showering anyway? You have to get ready for your date."

"Oh…right." I said handing Felicity back to Mom.

"Have fun." Mom said.

"I will." I said heading for the dorms. I knew there was something Mom wasn't telling me…I seriously wished I knew what though. Knowing Mom it was big. I was close to the dorms when I saw Conner. "Hey, how's it going?"

"Pretty good. I think I'm gonna like it here." He said.

"That's great. We're glad to have you." I said.

"Thanks Harley. Hey have you seen Josh?"

"No, he took off from the track earlier and I haven't seen him since." I said

"Ok, well I need to find him. See you later."

"See ya." I said going into the dorm. I went up to my room and took a shower then picked out my clothes for my date. I was just about ready when Julia walked in.

"You are such a clueless freak." She said.

"What are you talking about Ju Ju?" I asked.

"DJ. Did you ever stop to think it might be weird for Josh to see his best friend and cousin dating?"

"Um…not really."

"Of course not. That would require unselfish thought."

"Are you implying I'm selfish?" I asked.

"Of course not Airy, I'm flat out saying it. You're selfish."

"Just shut up ok? DJ is a cool guy and if Josh had a problem with me seeing him I think he'd tell me." I said.

"Like I said, clueless freak."

"Whatever. Now if you'll excuse me I'm sure DJ will be here soon." I said leaving the room.

I went to the lodge and saw DJ talking to Derek.

"Hey, you ready?" I asked.

"Hey you, wow you look great." DJ said.

I smiled. "Thanks."

"You do look nice Har." Derek said.

"Totally…you're hot." Chris said.

I laughed, "Thanks guys."

"Have fun." Tiffany said.

"But not too much fun. It's only the first date." April said.

"Bye Wild Cats." I said taking DJ's hand and leaving.

Josh

I couldn't stay at the Academy and watch DJ pick up the girl of my dreams so I went to Cyberspace to hang out. I was sitting alone, sipping a soda, when this girl came up to me. She was very pretty, kinda reminded me of Harley…but she was somehow different.

"Hey, this seat taken?" she asked.

"Is now." I said.

"Thanks. I'm…Marissa." She said.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Josh."

"So what are you doing here all alone? Girlfriend off on her own or something?"

"Actually I don't have a girlfriend."

"You've got to be kidding me, someone that looks like you doesn't have a girlfriend?"

"Afraid not."

"Well how sad for you…but good for me…I hope you don't think this is too forward but…would you like to go out sometime?" she asked.

I gave this some thought, normally I would have said no because of my thing for Harley but then I stopped. Harley was on a date with DJ, I was here alone…except for Marissa. She was hot, I was single…what was the problem. "I'd like that." I said.

Tiffany

After dinner, during clean up, I slipped away for just a second and went to the bathroom for my ritual. I even took a moment to step on the scale, I weighed 105 pounds. I was so fat; Mother would never accept me looking like this. Even purging I'd never lose enough weight in time. I sat down on the floor and started to cry. Why did I have to be such a cow? I saw a razor the dorm monitors had forgotten to pick up (we were only allowed razors for shaving under supervision). I picked up the razor and pressed it down to my skin and cut. I watched as blood started to ooze. It felt good. I started to cut again, faster and faster all up and down my arm. I finally dropped the razor and looked at the dripping blood. I stood up and washed my arm off and once the bleeding stopped I put on a long sleeve shirt and went back down to help clean. They never even knew I was gone…then again when did anyone notice me anyway?


	8. Something to Call My Own

PRWC 8- "Something to Call My Own"

_"So tired of the straight line  
And everywhere you turn  
There's vultures and thieves at your back  
The storm keeps on twisting  
You keep on building the lies  
That you make up for all that you lack  
It don't make no difference_

_Escaping one last time  
It's easier to believe _

_In this sweet madness oh  
This glorious sadness that brings me to my knees"_

_~ "Angel" Sarah McLachlan_

"So how was your date?" Mom asked.

"Great! DJ is a great guy. I really like him." I said.

"That's good. I'm glad you've found someone new." Mom said.

"Me too. Anyway, how are my Wild Cats?"

"Fine. Tiffany's mom is visiting in a few days."

"What? Is she ok with it?"

"She seems ok. I haven't noticed a change in her since she found out the news."

"I think I'm gonna go talk to her anyway." I said.

"Ok, see you later." Mom said.

I went to the lodge and found Tiffany working on homework.

"Hey kid." I said sitting next to her.

"Hey Har." She said looking up from her book.

"Heard your mom is coming in. Are you ok with that?"

"Of course. I'm so excited! I miss my parents." She said brightly.

"Ok…well if something about it does bother you…well you can come talk to me."

She nodded. "I know Har, but really, I'm happy about this."

"OK…well I'll let you get back to work…" I said getting up. I went to make sure the kitchen had been cleaned up then I checked on all the Wild Cats. Everyone was fine so I went to do my own homework and ended up running into Josh on the way to my room.

"Hey you." I said.

"Hey Har. How was your date?" he asked.

"Very nice, thanks. Hey, you don't have a problem with me seeing your cousin do you?" I asked.

"Of course not."

"Ok, I didn't think so. Anyway what have you been up to?"

"I went on a date myself."

"Oh? With who?" I asked quicker than I should have.

"This girl I met. Her name is Marissa and she's an awesome girl. I like her a lot." He said.

"I'm so happy for you. Anyway I need to get to my homework…see ya?"

"See ya." Josh said.

I went on to my room and as I sat down I noticed a weird feeling of jealousy I couldn't quite explain.

Tiffany

So I probably should have told Harley how I was really feeling, but she would just put me under watch and make me start eating and that wouldn't help me lose the weight I needed to lose.

After I finished my homework I went to my room and pulled the razor I had hidden. It felt so good to cut. It was a pain I could control. No one made me do it, no one made me hurt. I did this to myself, it was my pain and I owned it. I watched as blood dripped down my arm again. I cut more, and more…and more. I couldn't stop, it just felt so good to have something I could control in my life. I finally made myself stop. I could control that too. I could stop the pain. I washed off my arm and put my jacket back on. That's when April came in. She went to her bunk to get something and then looked at me.

"It's burning up in here. What's with the jacket?" she asked.

"I'm cold." I said.

"Don't give me that shit. I'm not an idiot. Come here." She said grabbing my wrist.

"No! Stop!" I cried trying to pull away.

"No. Stay still." She commanded as she tried to take my jacket off of me. She ended up tearing the sleave off, revealing my cut arm. "I knew it. You moron."

"Thanks." I said softly pulling away.

"Why would you do something so stupid?"

"It feels good ok?"

"Let me guess, you've been sneaking off and barfing again too?"

"Yes." I said softly.

"Does this have anything to do with your parents visiting?"

"You don't know what it's like to be a Jennings. My mother expects perfection. I have to be perfect or I'll embarrass her. Since I've gotten here I've gotten so fat. I had to do something."

"You are such an idiot. You're not fat. You're like a stick. And cutting…god…you really should talk to Harley about it. Stay here and I'll go get her." April said.

"You trust me to stay?"

"You don't have the guts to run." April said leaving me alone.

"Whatever." I said sitting on my bed. I knew Harley would be in anytime now and they would make me start eating. I'd gain weight and my mother would hate me. I couldn't let that happen. I grabbed my backpack, tossed in some clothes, left my Morpher on the bed and headed out the door. I knew they'd be after me soon so I took off running fast as I could. I had to stay one step ahead of them.

April

I couldn't believe what Tiffany was doing, though I'd never admit it, seeing her arm scared the crap out of me. I got to Harley's room and banged on the door.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she opened the door.

"It's Tiffany, you need to talk to her now." I said running back to the dorm. Harley was right behind. We got back and she was gone. "NO!" I cried.

"April, what's wrong? What's going on?" Harley asked panicked.

"I found out Tiffany has been cutting again and purging because she is upset about her parents visit. I told her to stay here." I said.

"You left her alone after you knew all that?!" Harley cried.

"I…I'm sorry. I never thought she'd actually run!" I cried.

"Ok we need to let my parents know about this. You get to the lodge and round up the other Wild Cats. I'll find my mom and dad." She said.

"Ok." I nodded as I ran off to the lodge. Before I entered I slowed my pace. "Hey, morons, Harley wants us rounded up now." We all gathered in our normal area.

"What's the deal?" Chris asked.

"Princess decided to run off." I said disgusted, like I didn't care.

"Oh great, we gotta look for her now." Chris said.

"I know, I think we should let her try to make it on her own. She'll come back on her own. She can't make it out there." I said.

Harley

I got to my parents' house and ran in.

"Guys! Tiffany ran." I called.

"What?" Dad asked running out of the bedroom with Mom.

"Tiffany ran. April found out she's been cutting and purging again so she ran." I said.

"How much of a head start does she have?" Mom asked.

"I'd say 15 minutes or so." I said.

"We can track her with her Morpher." Dad said.

"No, she left it behind on the bed." I said as the alarm on the computer went off. "Perfect timing Arissa" I said.

"No…not now…ok we'll get a search party together, you take the Wild Cats and handle Arissa." Mom said.

"You got it." I said running back to the lodge. "Ok guys, Tiffany is missing but there's other trouble to deal with."

"Now?" April asked.

"Sorry, but now. Let's go Wild Cats." I said. We went to our safe spot to morph and then went to face Arissa and her Bots.

"Hello Rangers." Arissa said.

"Sorry Arissa, now is not a good time, can be maybe do this later?" I said.

"What's the matter? Can't fight without the Pink Ranger?" Arissa asked with a laugh.

Michelle

After the Wild Cats were gone Hunter and I found Josh.

"Hey, Tiffany is missing, we need to form a search party. You think your dad would help?" Hunter asked.

"Of course. Let me call him." Josh said running to the phone.

"I can't believe we didn't pick up on this sooner." I said.

"I know…but Tiff always puts on a happy face. It's hard to tell when she's sincere" Hunter said.

"I'm worried…she's not meant for life on the street."

"I know sweetie, but we'll find her."

"I hope so." I said as I saw Julia. "Jules! We need your help, Tiff is gone and we need to form a search party."

"Where's Harley and the other Wild Cats?" Julia asked.

"Um…already looking for her. Will you help?" I asked.

"Of course." Julia said as Conner's car pulled up. Conner and several other McKnights walked over. (Eric, Conner, and their families).

"What can we do?" Conner asked. I noticed Kira at his side.

"Thanks for coming. Ok we need search teams. Michelle, you take Josh, Noah, and Tally. Conner, you take DJ and Eric. Julia, Anna, and, Beth you're with me." Hunter said.

"What can I do? I want to help." Kira said.

"Actually if you don't mind we need someone to stay here to watch Felicity and in case Tiffany comes back on her own." Hunter said.

"Ok, got it." Kira said going to the house to get Felicity.

"Ok everyone, stay in contact, let's move out." I said.

We all headed in different directions and started the search.

"Tiffany!" I called.

"Tiff!" Josh called.

"How much ahead is she?" Tally asked.

"By now? About half an hour or so." I said.

"You think she made it to town?" Noah asked.

"Maybe. I think that's where Hunter was headed for." I said.

Hunter

"OK, it's possible she went into town. We'll start there first." I said as my group piled in my Durango and we headed for town. We parked in a parking area and started to search on foot.

"Tiff!" I called.

"Tiffany!" Anna called.

"You really think she'll come if she hears?" Beth asked.

"What?" Anna asked.

"Well she doesn't want to be found obviously." Beth said.

"If you don't have something positive to contribute then shut up." Anna said.

"Don't tell me to shut up. I'm just trying to help. I mean why would a kid run away anyway? You guys must have been real bad to her." Beth said.

"You don't know what you're talking about." Anna said.

"I'm just saying, normal kids don't just run away from a place they like. She must have hated that school. It's like a prison or something anyway isn't it?" Beth said.

"Ok, I'm sorry Hunter but I can't listen to this. You shut the hell up Miss Prep, Starlight is a safe haven. Without it some of those kids would be dead. Without schools like it I'd be in prison or worse. Do you know why Tiffany ran away, did you even bother to ask? Because she couldn't handle the thought of her mother visiting. You know why? Because her mother is always on her about her weight. In order to please her mother Tiffany purges her food, to mask the pain she feels she cuts her own arm. Starlight and schools like it save kids. If you have a problem then go back to your perfect little world where cheerleaders rule and the popular girls always win because in this world there is no winning, there is no perfect, there's just getting by and surviving day to day." Julia said.

Beth stood there speechless.

"Bless you." Anna said patting Julia on the shoulder.

"Now that we have that settled let's get back to trying to find Tiff." I said. I agreed with what Julia said and I'd tell her so later, for now I had to stay impartial and focus on finding Tiffany.

Harley

"I'm getting really sick of you." I said attacking Arissa.

"And I'm sick of you. I will have my revenge."

"For what exactly?"

"Your mother killed mine and now you both will pay."

"If your mother was anything like you we're all better off." I said holding up my staff to block her attack.

"You will pay for that." Arissa said shooting a fire ball at me. It hit me in the stomach and sent me flying.

"Harley!" the Ranger called.

"Get up and fight Purple Ranger." Arissa said standing over me.

"Can't you just go away and leave me alone? Geez, I didn't kill your mother." I said.

"But your mother did."

"Ok I get that…but why attack me?"

"The off spring of that woman doesn't deserve to live."

"So you're after me because I'm my mother's daughter?" I asked.

"Now you're starting to get it." Arissa said.

"How lame are you." I said getting up, with the help of my staff. I charged Arissa with my staff at full power. After hitting her a few times she was forced to retreat, so were the Bots. "Nice work guys. Now Power Down! We need to find Tiffany." I said taking the team to search.

Tiffany

I had run for quite awhile, not knowing how much of a head start I had. After about 30 minutes I got tired of running. I was getting tired period. I needed a place to sleep but I was broke. I saw a place called Cyberspace. There was a pretty nice size ally in the back so I slumped next to the wall and curled in a ball. In the morning I'd find a way out of town. Maybe head for Mexico and start a new life. One that didn't include being a Jennings. No pressure to be perfect, no one to control me. That sounded so wonderful. I sat there and saw a tin can lid on the ground. It had jagged edges. I picked it up and began to cut again. This time there was no one to stop me. No fear of being caught. No need to clean the blood, and really no way even if I wanted to. I cut deeper this time than before, causing blood to ooze faster and faster. I watched as the blood droplets hit the ground. I was entranced by this sight when I heard a voice.

"Looks like you've hurt yourself. Come with me. I'll clean that up for you." A man said.

"No thank you. I'm fine right here." I said not looking up from the blood.

"No, you don't understand. That wasn't a request. It was a demand." He said grabbing my arm and pulling me up.

"What do you want?!" I screamed.

"You." He said pinning me to the wall and reaching his hands up my shirt.

"Let me go! Help!" I screamed as loud as I could. Someone heard and came out the back door of Cyberspace.

"I believe the girl said to let her go." A girl said coming out and grabbing the man by his shirt. She threw him against the wall and proceeded to kick his ass. He ran off in a panic. I was standing there in shock when the girl came over to me. "Hi, I'm Savannah. I run Cyberspace, would you like to come in and clean that arm up?"

"No, thank you." I said turning to walk away.

"Come on, you can sleep on the sofa if you'd like." Savannah said.

I had to admit that a sofa sounded better than an ally. "OK, fine." I said following her in. She cleaned up my arm for me with a first aid kit then wrapped a bandage around it.

"OK, go ahead and go to sleep. You look like you need the rest." She said handing me a blanket. I curled up on the sofa and fell asleep very quickly.

Michelle

I was still searching with my team when my cell rang.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Michelle? Hey it's Savannah. I think I have something at Cyberspace that belongs to you."

"You do?" I asked.

"Yeah, blonde girl in a pink shirt. Sound familiar?"

"Oh god…Tiffany! We'll be right there." I said hanging up. "Savannah found her. She has her at Cyberspace."

"Savannah has her?" Noah asked.

"Oh no, he's gonna start crushing again." Josh said.

"Noah has a crush on Savannah?" I asked. This was very bad.

"Totally." Josh said as we headed for my car to drive over.

"I really don't think you should ask her out or anything." I said.

"Why not?" Noah asked.

"Because…she's…she's recently divorced. I don't think she's ready for a relationship yet." I said.

"Oh…that makes sense. I can wait a while." Noah said.

I sighed, someday this was gonna come bite me in the ass.

On the way to Cyberspace I called Harley, Conner, and Hunter. Harley and Hunter took their teams back to Cyberspace and Conner met us there. When I walked in to Cyberspace I saw two things that caught my attention. 1) Tiffany was peacefully sleeping on the sofa and 2) Conner and Savannah were sitting at the bar talking. The second one really hit me. I had to come clean with this someday.

"Hey, thanks for keeping her here." I said sitting next to Conner.

"No problem. I found her out back. She was getting attacked so I beat the guy up then brought her in here. Her arm is pretty cut up, it could get infected. I'd keep an eye on it." Savannah said.

"Ok, thanks. How did you know she was a Starlight Kid?" I asked.

"Self mutilation, obvious emotional issues. If she wasn't she should be."

I nodded. "Thanks again." I said.

"Want me to carry her to the car?" Conner asked.

"If you could without waking her up that'd be nice." I said.

"Ok. I'll get her back to the Academy." Conner said.

"Thanks." I said. Conner went over and picked Tiffany up and took her to his car. I turned to Savannah. Everyone else had gone outside and we were alone. "Listen, I know I'm not your favorite person in the world but thanks for calling me…and thanks for not telling Harley anything."

"It's your job to tell Harley. You're her mother. I'd love to get to know her on a sisterly level but I'm not going to be the one to tell her your secret. I do have a favor though…please, I know I've asked before but who is my birth father?" Savannah asked.

"I can't tell you that Savannah, I know you're curious but it's for the best that you don't know." I said.

"I will find out someway."

"How? It's not in your birth records. I'm the only person alive who knows and I'm sorry but I can't tell you. Not now. It's been too long. He has a wife and other kids now. I can't complicate his life by adding you to it."

"How could I actually think you'd help me? You've never done anything for me, why start now?" Savannah said. I knew she was mad.

"I'm sorry…I really am." I said turning and leaving. God, why did I do this to myself?

Tiffany

When I woke up the next morning I was in the lodge and Harley was standing guard.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Fine." I said. I didn't even have to ask how I got back. Savannah turned me over, I shouldn't have trusted her.

"Good because there will be consequences for your running." She said.

"What?" I asked.

"Shuns for a week, guarded of course."

"Guarded by who?"

"Whom. Yours truly. Josh is taking over my Wild Cat duties so I can be with you every second of every day for the next week. Only exception is when you're with a teacher and I'm in class. We'll get to be good friends." She said.

I sighed. What had I gotten myself into now?


	9. Reality Check

PRWC 9- "Reality Check"

_"I can't deal with reality  
It's nothing but excruciating agony  
I can't deal with my apathy  
It's just in my genes and personality"_

_~ "Reality Check" Konkhra_

"Derek, we've been going in circles since you've gotten here. A star athlete doesn't just decide to give it all up one day. I'm gonna try the direct approach here…what happened to you?" Hunter asked.

"I told you, peer pressure got to me. Nothing else happened. Can I go now?" I asked.

Hunter sighed, "OK, we're done for now. See you later."

"Thank you." I said taking off. There was no way I could tell Hunter what really happened. He'd never understand.

I headed for the field, it was gym time.

"Hey Conner" I said.

"Derek, hey. Just in time." He said tossing me a football.

"Yeah, let's do it Wild Cats." I said putting on my flag belt.

"The odds are uneven." Chris said.

"Yeah, with Tiffany on shuns it's 4 on 5." April said.

"Sorry guys, nothing I can do about that." Conner said.

"It's ok. Doesn't matter, we'll take them anyway. Let's do it." I said as the game started.

Harley

I had spent the last few days going between school and baby-sitting Tiffany. I knew it had to be done but I was missing my friends in a major way. I so wanted to go hang out at Cyberspace. Only 2 more days…

At this moment I had finished my classes for the day so I was watching Tiffany eat. I had to make sure she ate and that it stayed down.

"Harley?"

"Yeah Tiff?"

"You've been a Ranger awhile?"

"Yeah."

"What was your hardest battle as a Ranger so far?"

"Probably fighting Viper…or Nick. He went from good to evil so much you never knew what side he was on. It's hard to not know what is real and what isn't. Now eat." I said.

She was just about done when my mom came in.

"How's it going?" she asked.

"She's almost finished eating." I said.

"Good…listen Har, if you want to go to Cyberspace I'll take over for a few hours." Mom said.

"Are you sure? This is my job."

"I'm sure. Go."

"Are you ok with that Tiff?" I asked.

"Totally. Go, have fun."

"OK laters." I said taking off. I got in my car and went to Cyberspace.

Anna was on stage with her band, Josh was doing homework, DJ was watching Beth flirt with some guy like a protective big brother, and Noah was watching Savannah's every move…I think Savannah was glancing back at him when she got the chance too.

"Hey guys," I said.

"Har, hey long time no see." Josh said.

"Yeah, I missed you." DJ said pulling me into his lap.

"Missed you guys too." I said kissing DJ.

"So how's Tiff?" Josh asked.

"She's doing better I guess. My parents are meeting with her's tomorrow to discuss what happened." I said.

"I feel sorry for her. It must be awful to think your parents don't love you." Noah said.

"Sad how many kids think that." Josh said.

I nodded. "Hey, Anna looks even happier than normal on stage, what's going on?"

"Oh you haven't heard yet? There was a teacher strike at Blue Bay U and they expect classes to be out for a month so Aaron is coming to stay here for a couple of weeks." Josh said.

"Aaron Kay?" I asked.

"Um…he is Anna's boyfriend, duh." Josh said.

"Just checking…wow…I haven't seen Aaron in awhile." I said.

"You're over him right?" Josh asked.

"Yeah…I mean I've moved on, but he was my first love. You don't forget something like that." I said.

"Sometimes love gets more intense as you get older anyway." DJ said wrapping his arms around my waist.

I smiled.

"What time is it?" Josh asked.

"Five till four, why?" I asked.

"I need to go meet Marissa at the movies. I'll catch you guys later." Josh said.

"Ok, have fun." I said.

Josh

I got to the theater and found Marissa.

"Hey baby." I said kissing her.

"Hey yourself. I've missed you." She said kissing me back. I bought us movie tickets and popcorn then we found seats and waited for the movie to start.

"So how was your day?" I asked.

"Uneventful. Just talked to my aunt and stuff. What about your day?"

"School…normal stuff. My sister's boyfriend is coming in tonight so I helped set up the guest room."

"Your sister has a boyfriend?"

"Yeah he lives in Blue Bay Harbor. I'm kinda worried about him visiting."

"How come?"

"You remember I mentioned my friend Harley? Well Aaron was her first love and now he's dating Anna. Harley says she's over Aaron but I just worry she might not be and cause problems for him and Anna." I said.

"I'm sure it'll be ok." Marissa said as the movie started.

Arissa

If you haven't figured out I'm Marissa by now how stupid are you? I knew that the Purple Ranger was friends with this guy and hooking up with him was giving me valuable information…like this Aaron guy…what if I had the Bots kidnap him? Harley would go insane with worry and it would cause tension between Anna and Harley which would cause tension among everyone else. It was a great plan. It had to work. My aunt was getting very impatient with my failures, and I was in no hurry to age at a human rate anyway. I needed to take over Earth and get back to my TK-91 fast.

After the movie I kissed Josh goodnight…the guy was a good kisser I could admit that much…and I headed back to my lair. I pulled out my picta-phone and got my aunt on screen.

"I won't fail you again, by this time tomorrow the Rangers will be doomed." I said.

"Good…see that you don't fail again." She said.

"I won't…I won't." I turned off my Picta-phone and set to work. I would need several monsters for this project. Of course they would all be copies off a main one, but they could all serve my purpose…these shape shifter monsters would bring forth the Rangers', past and present, worst fear. First thing first, I had to separate them. I sent down scattered armies of Bots.

Derek

We had just finished dinner, Wild Cats had kitchen duty again. I was washing come plates when Hunter came in.

"Derek, telephone."

"Oh? Who is it?" I asked.

"Your mother. She said she really wants to talk to you." Hunter said.

Hearing that she wanted to talk to me made something in me snap. I picked up a plate and threw it at the wall, shattering it. "Tell her she can fuck herself!" I screamed as I ran from the kitchen. I ran into the woods before I finally fell against a tree and started to cry. I was alone for a little while before I heard someone.

"Something you didn't share in group?" April asked sitting next to me.

"Fuck off."

"I would, really…but you look like you need to talk and you're obviously not going to tell Hunter what's going on so you can tell me. I won't tell Hunter." April said as an army of Bots showed up. "Bad timing much?"

"Come on, we have a job to do." I said as we started to fight.

"April, Derek, there's an army of Bots in the city." Michelle said over the communicator.

"There's one here too." April said.

"They are scattered all over the city." Michelle said.

"Go, I can hold it down here." I said.

"OK. I'm gone." April said taking off.

I continued to fight on my own. "I'm so sick of you bots!" I cried. I was just about to finish them off.

"Derek, come here. Mommy needs her boy." A voice said.

I turned around and saw my mother.

"Go away." I said.

"Sweetie, come here…I love you my baby."

"No…go away. Just leave me alone!"

"Don't you love me anymore Derek?"

"No! No I don't! Just go away!" I screamed

"I love you."

"No you don't. Mothers shouldn't so what you've done."

"I just want to show you how much I love you." She said coming at me.

I froze. "No…" I whispered as I cried.

Anna

I was nervously waiting at the airport when I finally saw Aaron come down the stairs. I ran over to him.

"Aaron!" I cried jumping into his arms.

"Oh god, Anna!" he said hugging me tight.

"I've missed you so much." I said.

"I've missed you." He said kissing me.

I kissed him back. "We should get outside. Josh is waiting in the car."

"Ok, let's go." Aaron said.

We went back outside and got in the car.

"Hey Aaron." Josh said.

"Hey Josh, how's it hanging?" Aaron asked.

"Pretty good." Josh said.

"How's Harley?" Aaron asked.

"She's good. She's dating our cousin DJ." I said.

"She sure gets around." Aaron said.

"Like mother like daughter." Josh mumbled. We finally got to Cyberspace.

"I need to run to the restroom." Aaron said.

"Ok. I'll be here." I said sitting down. While Aaron was in the bathroom Harley came in.

"Hey guys." Harley said.

"Hey Har." I said.

"Aaron get in ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, he'll be right back." I said. He ended up being gone for quite awhile. Finally he came back.

"Aaron!" Harley said standing up to hug him.

"Hey baby…I've missed you." Aaron said kissing Harley right in front of me!

Michelle

I was about to call Harley to join the fight when there was a knock on my door. I ran to the door and opened it. There stood my worst nightmare. Sara Austin.

"What do you want?" I asked. I noticed she was holding a baby that looked to be a little less than a year old.

"I came to introduce my little son to his father." Sara said.

"What? Liar!" I cried.

"Don't believe me? We can do a DNA test. You know Hunter and I have been carrying on an affair since the week after you guys got married. I'm so happy I was finally able to give him a son…something you could never do." Sara said rocking her baby.

"No! You're lying!" I cried. I felt like my world was crumbling around me.

"What's the matter Michelle? Truth hurt?" Sara asked.

"No…this can't be…it's a trick…Hunter would never cheat on me…ever."

"Of course, because you're so faithful. Gave him plenty of reasons not to stray and its not like he cheated on you already or anything."

I turned pale. She was right. Hunter had cheated on me with Cam before. "NO!" I screamed.

Hunter

I was sitting in the office waiting for word from Michelle when someone walked in.

"Oh, hey Rocky. What can I do for you?" I asked.

"I came to get *my* daughter." Rocky said.

"Harley? She's out right now."

"Not Harley. The daughter that shares my DNA."

"What are you talking about?"

"Felicity."

"What? No. Felicity is my daughter." I said.

"I thought so too but I got a call from the hospital. Seems Michelle lied about who the father was again. She's making that a habit, don't you think?"

"No…I don't believe it. Felicity is my daughter…how could she be yours?"

"Michelle and I may have done a lot of fighting, but we did a lot of making up. You know all about how Michelle 'makes up' don't you?" Rocky said.

"But if Felicity is yours…"

"She cheated on you with me. You didn't honestly think Michelle could stay faithful, did you? She cheated on me with you, what made you think the reverse wouldn't be true?"

"But Felicity is my baby girl." I said. I felt tears well in my eyes. This was my worst fear. I couldn't lose my little girl.

Tally

I was working on sewing some patches on Beth's cheerleading uniform when there was a knock on the door. I went and answered it. It was Conner.

"Hey Conner, Eric isn't here right now." I said.

"Good. I didn't come to see Eric. I came to see you." Conner said.

"Oh, ok. What's up?" I asked.

"Having you back in Reefside has made me realize what a mistake I made. You're the one I should be with. Not Kira. I want you…I want you right now." Conner said pulling me into his arms and kissing me. My mind was racing. It was like a dream. I had thought about something like this happening but never expected it would. I returned the kiss and wrapped my arms around his neck.

Kira

I was headed to Tally's. I needed to ask her a question and I happened to be close by. When I turned the corner I saw her making out with Eric…*Wait…that isn't Eric…that's the other twin…my twin! Conner! NO!* my mind screamed. I continued driving. I needed to go somewhere and think about this. I needed to let this all sink in. It didn't feel real. I ended up at the Storm Chargers office. I guess Eric was the closest friend I had in town. I went in and ran back to his office.

"Eric? Are you busy?" I asked.

"Oh hey Kira? Not too busy. Wait, what's the matter? You look like you've been crying." He said.

"Can we go somewhere and talk?"

"Sure, how about I drive you home? You don't look in shape for driving."

"Ok." I agreed. I got in his car and I stayed quiet until we got back to my house. He walked me in and we sat down on the sofa.

"What happened?" Eric asked as he wiped a tear from my eye.

"Conner…he…Conner cheated on me." I said.

"What? How do you know?" Eric asked.

"I caught him making out with someone else."

"Who?"

"You don't wanna know."

"Who?"

I took a deep breath. "Tally."

"What? No."

"Yes. I was going to ask Tally a question and they were at the front door making out." I said crying again. Eric looked ready to lose it but instead he pulled me into his arms and held me.

"How could they do this to me? My own brother and my wife…"

"I know…I couldn't believe it myself. I mean what's wrong with me? Am I not pretty enough for Conner? Not smart enough? What's wrong with me that he couldn't be faithful?"

"Oh god Kira, you're gorgeous and nothing is wrong with you. He's an idiot to cheat on you." Eric said brushing my hair with his hand.

"I think I ended up with the wrong twin." I said softly as I moved my head towards Eric's.

"I think I may have picked the wrong girl." Eric said as he moved towards me. Soon our lips met. So much pain and passion was in that kiss that we couldn't control it.

"I want you Eric." I said.

"Are you sure? If we do this…"

"If we do this what? What do we have to lose? Conner and Tally are probably doing the same as we speak. Let's just go upstairs. I don't want Anna or Josh coming in." I said.

"Ok." Eric agreed. He picked me up and we went to the bed room. He set me on the bed and kissed my neck. I helped him get his shirt off and then took my own off. I needed him so much and the clothes were only in the way. I hastily got the rest of our clothes off and pulled Eric down on me.

"I need you Eric." I moaned as I felt our bodies join.

"Oh god…Kira…" Eric moaned.

After we both climaxed I pulled myself closer to Eric. I still needed him. My pain was so great that I didn't want to remember it. I want to stay in this moment with Eric. "More…again." I moaned breathless.

Eric fought to catch his breath. "Ok." He said pushing back into me. I was nearing climax when I heard a voice.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Conner cried.

Eric pulled out and covered us with the sheet.

"Finished with Tally already? Figured you'd be over there till dinner." I said.

"What are you talking about? Eric? How could you do this to me?" Conner asked.

"You tell me." Eric said.

"Fuck you both." Conner said running off. I curled into Eric's arms and cried.

Conner

My brother and my wife…my brother and my wife…

I couldn't believe it. I started driving towards Tally's but in the end I couldn't do it. I kept driving. I could go sleep with Tally and get revenge on them but what would that do? It would cause more hurt. I didn't love Tally. I loved Kira. I just wish I knew what she was talking about with me being 'finished with Tally'. Something wasn't right, I could feel it.

I stopped at Reefside Café. I needed to think about some things. When I was walking in I saw Trent.

"Hey, for what it's worth I'm sorry." Trent said

"What?" I asked

"Kira didn't tell you? I would have figured the lawyers would have called you by now." Trent said.

"What? Lawyers?" I asked.

"Yeah. She's filing for divorce. She's getting back together with me."

"What? Why?"

"Isn't it obvious? I can offer her more than you ever could. I have more money than you ever dreamed of. I already had Anna and Josh pick out their rooms. Anna's is getting a practice area for her band too. I'm getting it soundproofed next week. I'm also working on lining up a tour for Anna." Trent said.

"No…you can't take my family." I said.

"They're my family now Conner. Revenge sucks doesn't it. You took my family now I'm taking yours."

"Fuck you." I said getting back in my car and taking off.

Savannah

"May I take your order?" I asked a customer. He was new, I hadn't seen him before.

"It is you isn't it? Savannah?" he said.

"Do I know you?" I asked.

"No…but you should. I'm your father…your birth father."

I just about dropped the coffee pot I was holding. "It's really you? You do know about me?" I asked sitting down.

"Yes. I've spent years looking for you. Michelle and I were only together for a brief time and when she found out she was pregnant I told her I'd be happy to take the baby, only you were taking from the hospital before I ever got to see you."

"Mom kidnapped me?"

"Yes."

"And Michelle knew?"

"She didn't care, not as long as you were out of her hair."

"Oh my god…" I was about to have a break down right there. This was unreal. I finally found my real father.

Jesse

I was fighting off the Bots when I turned around and saw my parents. "No…" I did a double take. "Mom, Dad? But you're…"

"Dead? No. Though that was a bit elaborate to get rid of you." Dad said.

"If we had been smart we would have done what your aunt did and send you away." Mom said.

"What? No…" I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"You're such a pain Jesse, who could possibly want you?" Mom said.

"The only reason they accept you here is they're paid." Dad said.

"No! No! Stop it!" I screamed.

"You're the worst son ever" Dad said.

"So bad we would rather fake our own deaths than be anywhere near you." Mom said.

"No! No! This can't be real! No!" I screamed.

Chris

"You bots are seriously starting to piss me off." I said as I fought. It was tiring. If Arissa was trying to wear us down on our own it was working.

"You don't deserve to be a Ranger." A voice said.

I turned around and saw Mike, the leader of the gang I had been in. "Mike? Bro, how's it going? Kinda busy here." I said.

"You're a disgrace. Because of you Dave is dead…now so are Anthony, Kiko, Jack, and Gus."

"But that's half the gang."

"You weren't there to watch our backs. You let the family down. All we ever did was be there for you and you left us to face a territory war."

"But it wasn't my choice…they made me come here."

"You could have gotten out if you wanted. You should have been there, now you think you can be a badass Power Ranger? You don't deserve it."

"No….Mike…"

"You're nothing anymore. Without the family you're nothing. Go play super heroes with your new posse but just remember how much blood you have on your hands."

April

I was really worried about how Derek was holding up. He didn't seem much in a way to be fighting when I left him. I was trying to hurry and get rid of the bots when I saw a face that made my blood curl.

"Ed?" I asked.

"Hello Angel." He said reaching for my face.

It was my step-father. I pulled back. "Go away! Don't you ever touch me again! Ever!"

"But you're so young and beautiful, how can I stop myself?"

"You've ruined my life enough! Go away!"

"But you're my girl. I've never done anything but love you."

"That wasn't love! It was rape!"

"I just wanted to show you how much I love you. Come here…let me show you again."

"NO! Stop!" I screamed. I stumbled back and fell to the ground. "Leave me!" I screamed as I curled into a ball.

Arissa

After capturing that Aaron guy I watched the various shows on my viewing screen. It was the best comedy ever. Poor little Rangers facing their troubles. The veteran Rangers were just as funny though, and the effect this had on the Red DinoThunder Ranger's twin and his wife, pure bonus. I couldn't have planned that better. The best part? There was no destroying the monsters unless the central shape shifter was destroyed. And I wasn't stupid. I placed the central monster in charge of the Pink Ranger. That wimp would never gather the inner strength it took to destroy it. Speaking of which, it was time to check up on Miss Pinky.

Tiffany

I wanted out of shuns, of course, but fighting Bots wasn't my perfect idea of how to get out.

"Wild Cat Transform!" I cried. What good were powers if not to help?

"You shouldn't be wearing pink spandex. It makes you look fat." A voice said. I turned.

"Mother?"

"You've turned into a cow since you've been here. You're an embarrassment."

"I've tried, but they make me eat here."

"Your weight is well above what we agreed on. But I suppose pleasing me means nothing to you. You're rather make me be evil when all I want is to provide for you."

"No…that's not it!"

Hunter

I was staring at Rocky, facing my worst nightmare when I got a grip on the situation.

"No…this has to be a trick. You've said yourself there was no way Felicity was yours…" I closed my eyes and tried to find the ninja in me. It knew what to do. I jumped kicked "Rocky" and when he fell back a monster was reveal. "Just as I thought…a shape shifter." I was very pleased I figured that out when it hit me…if I was facing a shape shifter, so were the Rangers! I ran to the house to call the Rangers. When I got there Michelle was facing off with Sara, who was carrying a baby.

"What's going on?" I asked

"You ass! Did you think I wouldn't find out? How could you cheat on me with her?" Michelle asked as tears fell from her eyes.

"Baby…baby…no. This isn't real. I never cheated on you with her. It's a shape shifter, we need to contact the Rangers before they get defeated by their worst fears." I said.

"Shape shifter? You bitch!" Michelle cried attacking "Sara". Sure enough the shape shifter lost it's shape.

Harley

Ok so I was more that shocked when Aaron kissed me. I thought we were way past over.

"Aaron?" Anna asked.

"Why are you doing this to her?" I asked.

"Why does any guy get with you? They expect you to be easy, like your mother. Jay, Nick, me…every guy."

"But I'm not like her." I said.

"Sure you are…you just have to stop fighting it. Come with me." Aaron said.

"No!" I cried.

"Leave her alone you ass. God to think I thought you loved me!" Anna cried.

"I don't believe you Aaron Kay…I don't believe you." I said.

Savannah

I was sitting with my birth father when my mom walked in.

"Who's this?" she asked.

"You should know. Don't you remember? The man you kidnapped me from? My birth father?" I said coldly.

"What? I didn't kidnap you."

"That's not what he said."

"And who is he? He's not your birth father."

"What?"

"She's right, I'm not." The man said turning into a monster and attacking.

"Mom, run!" I cried.

Michelle

I couldn't believe I fell for a shape shifter.

"Rangers, whatever you think you're seeing isn't real. You have to fight it. Be strong." I said.

"No. I can't!" Jesse cried. He sounded like he was in a great deal of pain.

"It's too much to take!" April said.

"I can't." Derek said weakly.

"No…" Chris said.

"Tiffany?" I asked.

No response.

"Oh god…" I said.

Tiffany

"You aren't worthy to be a Jennings." Mother said

"Stop it!" I cried.

"Why do you try to make my life so hard? All you have to do is maintain the weight we discussed. Is that so hard?"

"No! You have no right to say this to me! I'm sick! Don't you care mother? I'm sick!"

"If you're sick you shouldn't be around. We should send you away. Lock you up like the monster you are."

"YES! Please! Send me to Starlight! Anything to get away from you! I'm not worthy to be a Jennings? Fine! I don't want to be! I just want to be me! I want to have control of my own life without cutting! I want to get well!" I screamed.

"Too bad." "Mother" said as she changed into a monster. "I always knew Mother was a monster. Panther Baton! Full Power!" I cried attacking with everything I had. I defeated the monster on my own.

Arissa

"NO!" I screamed. When the Pink Ranger beat the central monster all the others disappeared as well. "This can't be happening. Oh well at least I still have that Aaron." I said turning around to see where I locked him up but he was gone. "What? No!"

"Looking for me?" he asked stepping out of the shadows.

"How did you get free? Come back here!" I cried.

"Sorry, you obviously didn't get the memo. I'm a Ranger too. Genesis Evolution!" Aaron called as he morphed into a Green Ranger.

"NO! I'm so sick of Rangers! How many of you are there?!" I cried.

"Too many for you to ever beat." Aaron said attacking.

I fought back. I couldn't believe my luck.

"It's been fun but I think I have a girlfriend to make up with." Aaron said taking off.

"NO!" I screamed.

Michelle

After rounding up the Rangers and talking them through what they saw we let them all turn in to their dorms early…I also decided to let Tiffany off shuns. After what she went through she didn't need to be alone.

"I'm sorry Hunter." I said.

"It's ok. I was pretty angry with you when I thought Felicity wasn't mine."

"Oh she's yours. One look in her eyes and you know she's yours."

"She does take after me doesn't she?"

"Yes. She does. Hunter? I love you so much." I said hugging him tightly.

"I love you too." He said holding me.

"Um, excuse me. I hate to barge in but I was wondering if I can stay in the dorms or something for a bit." Conner said coming in.

"Um…why?" I asked.

"Kira…well Kira cheated on me."

"What? Why?" Hunter asked.

"She said something about me and Tally but I don't know what she was talking about."

"Oh no…the shape shifters were messing with former Rangers too, not us and our Wild Cats." I said.

"Shape shifter?" Conner asked.

"Come with me. We need to round up Kira, Eric, Tally, and Savannah." I said.

We got everyone to meet at Cyberspace and I filled them in.

"So it wasn't you who I saw kissing Tally?" Kira asked.

"No! I'd never cheat on you Kira. I love you too much. Even after I caught you with Eric and I wanted to cheat for pay back I couldn't." Conner said.

"Oh god…what an idiot…I'm so sorry Conner." Kira said crying.

"We'll work this out. Somehow. I love you and we will find a way to work through this." Conner said.

"I'm sorry too Eric." Tally said softly.

"I think we have bigger problems to fix if we were able to cheat on each other. We have some talking to do." Eric said.

"So do we…Mom, you know who my birth father is. You pretty much said so when you knew that man wasn't him." Savannah said.

I turned pale.

"I…Savannah…" Hayley started.

"My birth mother said she was the only knew who knew, that isn't true though, is it?" Savannah asked.

"It's better you don't know." Hayley said.

"Would everyone stop telling me what's best for me?! I want to know who he is!" Savannah cried storming out.

"You should tell her. She has a right to know." Conner said.

"Trust me, that wouldn't be good for anyone involved." Hayley said.

I sighed.

Harley

Anna and I were eating pizza when Aaron walked in.

"So were you one of those shape shifters too or are you just a jerk?" I asked.

"I got captured by that Arissa." Aaron said.

"You what? Oh god Aaron, I'm so sorry. I should have saved you." Anna said.

"You didn't know…and lucky for me I still carry my Morpher…Arissa didn't know I was a Ranger." Aaron said.

"So you do love me?" Anna asked.

"More than anything. And Har? I saw what that shape shifter said to you. He was wrong. You're amazing too and someday you'll find a great guy." Aaron said.

I smiled. "Thanks Aaron."

Derek

We were told we could go to the dorms but I just wanted to be alone. I went and sat in the woods, where I had been earlier.

"She did it to you too didn't she?" April asked sitting next to me.

"What?" I asked.

"It's ok…it happened to me too…my step-father…he did it to me too."  
"Do you even know what you're talking about?" I asked.

"I know…I saw it in your eyes when you heard she was on the phone. She raped you didn't she?"  
"Look at me! I'm the leader of the Power Rangers! The powerful Red Ranger and I can't even fight off my own mother!"  
"It's not your fault Derek and it doesn't make you any less of a Ranger or a man." April said.  
"Oh, it doesn't?"  
"No it doesn't. You should talk to Hunter about this though…he can help you."  
"He'll have to report her though."  
"Yes he will. But don't you want her in prison?"  
"Yeah, of course…but what if no one believes me."  
"I believe you Derek. Hunter will too. It'll be ok. You have all of us." April said as she hugged me.  
I wanted to push her away at first but instead I hugged her back and cried freely for the first time.  
"You need to tell Hunter and Michelle…they will help you. I'll even go with you to talk to them."  
I took a deep breath. "Ok." I agreed. "I'll tell them."


	10. Destiny

PRWC 10- "Destiny"

_"Time is a thing we must accept  
The unexpected I sometimes fear.  
Just when I feel there's no excuse for what happens,  
Things fall into place  
I know there is no way to avoid the pain that we must go through  
to find the other half that is true  
Destiny is what we all seek  
Destiny was waiting for you and me"_

_~"Destiny" Death_

I had told April I'd tell Hunter what happened to me…and I planned on it…I did…but fate stepped in.

I went to the Bradleys' office and knocked.

"Yes?" Hunter called.

"Hunter, do you have a second?" I asked.

"Not now Derek. There's a new student coming in and we're trying to prepare for her." Hunter said.

"But…" I started.

"I said not now. We'll talk later. Does Harley know where you are?" Hunter asked.

"No but…"

"You should go back before she worries."

"Ok…fine…whatever." I said leaving. So much for a willingness to listen. I went to the lodge and plopped next to April, who was doing homework.

"So what happened?" she asked.

"He blew me off. I never ever got to tell him." I said.

"That sucks. I'm sorry."

"Yeah, thanks."

Hunter

I was looking over paper work when Michelle walked in.

"This is bad." She said.

"I know. According to this all the groups are full except the Wildcats. I haven't been assigning any others to them because of their situation but I don't think we have a choice. The students have to come first." I said.

She nodded. "We'll just have to keep an eye on things."

"Agreed."

"When will she be here?"

"Any second now." I said.

"OK." She said sitting at her desk. "What's the background info?"

"Destiny Long. Same as a lot of our kids. Seemingly normal life, one day decides to start cutting. She's ODed 3 times."

"She has an OD history…I thought we weren't supposed to take suicide risks." She said.

"We're not but I couldn't turn her away. I had the lawyers draw up some forms that clear our liability."

"Alright…I hope we can help her."

"So do I Mich." I said as there was a knock on the door. "Come in."

"Mr. and Mrs. Bradley?" a man asked.

"Yes, you can call me Hunter, this is my wife Michelle." I said.

"I'm Jack Long and this is my wife Monica and our daughter Destiny."

"Nice to meet you Destiny." Michelle said.

"Whatever." Destiny said.

"If you'd like to come with me we can get you checked in." Michelle said.

"Whatever." Destiny said again. Michelle walked out with her.

"Mr. Long, we're very happy to have Destiny here and we will do everything we can to help her…but you do understand we normally aren't supposed to take suicide risks. The only way this will work is if you sign this waver releasing Starlight Academy and it's staff from any liability should your daughter find a way to commit suicide." I explained.

"I don't like it but I'll do what I have to for her. I only hope you can help her." Jack said signing the paper.

Michelle

I walked Destiny to the clinic for her physical. After that was done we went to the dorms and I did a check on her things. I found a bottle of sleep aid.

"Sorry, can't have this here." I said taking it.

"I need those or I can't sleep." Destiny argued.

"You'll adjust." I said.

"Whatever." She said.

After the search I walked her to the lodge. "You're gonna meet your group now. You'll be a Wildcat. I'm sure you'll all get along." I said as we went in to the lodge.

"Hey guys, we got a new Wildcat." I said.

"What?" Harley asked.

"This is Destiny Long. Destiny, this is your group leader Harley and these are the Wildcats, Tiffany, Jesse, Derek, April, and Chris." I said.

"Um…hi." She said.

"Yeah…hi." April said.

"Destiny, if you'd like you can go get something to eat from the kitchen, it's right over there." I said.

"Oh yes, have to go away so you guys can discuss the new girl. Whatever." She said going to the kitchen.

"OK. Now how is this going to work?" Harley asked.

"She isn't a Ranger obviously…as for you guys…when you have to go I'll try to keep her busy so she doesn't notice. We have to try our best to make this work. All the other groups are full." I said.

"So what, don't let her in then." April said.

"You know I can't turn anyone away." I said.

"Yeah, whatever. This is going to be a mess." Chris said.

Destiny

I knew what they were doing. They were talking about their first impression of me. That was fine. Like I cared what they thought of me anyway. I'd make my own first impressions of them soon enough. I grabbed an apple from the kitchen then went back out.

"I'm back, you can stop talking about me." I said.

"Destiny, I'm going to help Hunter with any paper work he has left. Harley will be in charge. See you later." Michelle said.

"Whatever." I said sitting down next to Tiffany.

"So, what are you here for?" Tiffany asked in a perky voice.

"None of your business Princess." I said.

"See! Tiff is a Princess." Chris said.

"I like the new girl already." April said.

"I was just trying to be friendly." Tiffany said.

"Well then don't." I said.

"Fine I won't be." Tiffany said.

I looked over and saw this group of hot guys by the kitchen. "Who are they?" I asked.

"That's Josh McKnight and his twin cousins DJ and Noah McKnight. Josh helps out around here, especially with our group. DJ and Noah just moved to town so Josh has been showing them around, trying to talk them into helping." April said.

"How old is Josh?" I asked.

"20…but if you're crushing on him don't. He's got a thing for Harley." April said.

"But he's dating someone else." Tiffany said.

"Only to make Harley jealous. Anyone can see he has the hots for her but she's seeing DJ." April said.

"What about Noah?" I asked.

"He's got a thing for Savannah James. She works at a café in town." Tiffany said.

I nodded as I saw a girl join the guys. "Who's she?" I asked.

"That's Josh's sister Anna. She doesn't hang around here much but every once in a while she helps out. Her father, Conner, is the coach here." April said.

I nodded. "I see…" I said as Harley waved for them to join us.

"Hey!" she said hugging DJ. "Everyone, this is our new Wildcat, Destiny Long. Destiny, this is Anna, Josh, DJ, and Noah McKnight." Harley said.

"Nice to meet you." Noah said.

"Yeah." I said.

"Don't bother trying to be her friend, she's rude." Tiffany said.

"Tiff, she's new. Be nice." Anna said.

I smiled. "Thanks."

"I can't imagine how hard being new here must be, but if you ever wanna talk and Harley or Josh aren't around call me. My cell number is listed in the Wildcats' phone book." Anna said.

"Thanks Anna." I said. I liked her, she was the coolest person I'd met since I got to this dump. I was just starting to forget how angry I was when my parents walked in. "Ugh, you're still here?"

"We're just about to leave. We just want you to know we love you very much." Dad said.

"Bullshit." I said.

"We'll see you soon Destiny." Mom said.

"Hopefully not too soon. Just get gone." I said. I watched my parents leave.

"You're entirely too hard on them." Jesse said.

"You do know how to speak." I said.

"He only speaks when we're rude to our parents." April said.

"He lost both his parents so he thinks everyone should celebrate their parents." Chris said.

"Whatever. Mine are a curse." I said as I looked at Derek, "Does he not speak either?"

"Normally he does…Derek what's up man?" Chris asked.

"Nothing…just leave me alone." Derek said.

"What's wrong Derek?" Josh asked.

"I said nothing." Derek repeated.

"Leave him alone. If he wants to talk he will." April said.

Derek

This was all the new girl's fault. If Destiny hadn't shown up I would have told Hunter everything and my team wouldn't be in danger of being found out. I hated her so much.

"I have homework." I finally said as my excuse to walk away from the group. I went for a walk outside, where I ran into this blonde chick. She was hot. "Hey, may I help you?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm looking for Michelle Bradley."

"What you wanna see her for? I can show you much better uses of your time." I said.

"Does the word jailbait mean anything to you?"

"Oh come on, it'll be between you and me. What's your name anyway?"

"Savannah. Now can you tell me where Michelle is?"

"Savannah? As in the Cyberspace chick…oh…she's in her office, this way." I said leading her to the office. Had I known she was Savannah I wouldn't have hit on her. She could report it back to the Bradleys. I knocked on Michelle's door.

"Come in!" Hunter called.

We went in. "Visitor for Michelle." I said.

"Oh hey Savannah, come on in. Michelle is in the back putting Felicity down for a nap. She'll be right back." Hunter said.

"Oh ok. I'll wait." Savannah said.

"Hunter, can we talk now? I have something to tell you. If you tell me no again you can forget ever finding out what my problem is." I said.

Hunter looked at me. "That's what you wanted to discuss earlier? I'm sorry Derek." He said.

"I can come back later." Savannah said.

"No…let's go to the house and talk. Felicity would rather sleep there anyway. We'll let the guys talk here." Michelle said coming out with Felicity in tow.

"Daddy!" Felicity called.

"One second Derek." Hunter turned to his youngest daughter. "Have a good nap sweetie." He said hugging her. She kissed his cheek then he handed her back to Michelle. The girls all left and I was alone with Hunter.

"OK, so you wanted to talk." Hunter said.

"Yeah…I…" I looked down.

"Derek…something happened to you…you want to tell me what?" Hunter asked.

"Yes…I do…I…it was my mom…she…"

"She what Derek?"

"Nevermind." I said

"No…tell me. What did your mom do?"

I took a deep breath as the images came rushing back to me. "Don't let her visit me. I know that's why she called. I don't want to ever see her again." I said as I started to lose control of my tears.

"Derek, I can try but first I have to know what she did." Hunter said.

"She…" I took another breath. "At night…she'd come in my room. Sometimes when I was already asleep. She'd take off my clothes and…"

"And what Derek?"

"She made me have sex with her." I said, I was crying by this time.

"She raped you?" Hunter said, I could tell he was fighting to keep the emotion out of his voice.

"Yes." I said softly.

"I'm so sorry Derek. I know what a horrible feeling that is." Hunter said.

"How can you know?! Have you ever been raped?! It's such an invasion!"

"I do know. I was raped too, when I was 13." Hunter said.

I wasn't expecting that answer. I took a breath. "You were?"

"Yes. By a teacher. It was right after my parents died. I had this teacher who I would talk to about my grief. He started to take advantage of that and…yes, he raped me on several occasions." Hunter said.

I didn't know what to say. Hunter did know how I felt.

"What do you want now? You do know I have to report this…" Hunter said

"I know. April told me that."

"April knows?"

"Yeah, I told her. She is the one who convinced me to talk to you."

"It'll all be ok. I promise that. The abuse will stop. Your mother will never touch you again." Hunter said hugging me. I hugged him back and cried. I believed him. I knew he'd so whatever he had to to make sure I never went through that hell again.

Michelle

I put Felicity down then sat with Savannah.

"She's a cute kid." Savannah said.

"She's your half sister." I said.

"Will she ever know that though?" Savannah asked.

I sighed. "This isn't easy on me either Savannah."

"Why? Why did you put me up for adoption? You've always said because you couldn't handle a kid back then but there has to be more to it."

I sighed again. "I couldn't handle it Savannah…you want the whole story? Fine. I was 24 and life wasn't easy then. I thought I'd lost Hunter forever. I was going through a lot and your father was there. I didn't really even like him all that much but we were both hurting. We used sex to comfort each other and didn't use proper protection. By the time I found out you were coming I had managed to get back together with Hunter. I didn't want to lose him again and I didn't want anyone to know I had slept with your father so I had you in secret with the help of your mom and a friend. I wanted to make sure you had a good home so I asked Hayley to adopt you and she agreed. That's all there is." I said.

"Who is my birth father?" Savannah asked.

"We've been over this. I can't tell you that."

"Who else knows who he is? Obviously you lied when you said you were the only one cause my mom knows. Does this mysterious friend who helped you know too?"

"Yes. Only us three though. That's the truth." I said.

"I'll find out who he is…you know if I wanted to be a real bitch I could blackmail you. I could say that if you don't tell me I'll tell Harley everything."

"Please…don't do that" I begged.

"Don't worry. I would never do that to Harley. For some reason she looks up to you. I don't know why Harley and Felicity don't realize what a twisted mother they have." Savannah said getting up.

"Savannah…I'm sorry."

"No, you're not." She said leaving.

Destiny

That night I went to the dorm and got ready for bed. I had been way more social that I intending on being and it wore me out. Oh yeah, remember I said I'd have my own first impressions of the Wildcats? Well I do. Jesse seems nice but has major issues. As long as he stops his parent preaching we might be friends. Derek was hard to read cause I didn't see him much but I think he might be ok. Tiffany is an annoying stuck up princess who is only here because she is a drama queen. Chris is hot. A bit of a bad boy but I like it. I think we could be very good friends. April rocks. I like her attitude. She commands respect and I love it. Harley is ok I guess. She takes her leader role a little too seriously.

This was going to be an interesting school year…


End file.
